Interference
by The ShadowEye
Summary: She knows she isn't supposed to interfere, but when Thalia witnesses a young girl being reaped, she can't help herself. Now she's stuck in a mortal battle, fighting tributes - many with godly parents as well - while facing down a dangerous and exhausting arena. Takes place during the 20th Hunger Games.
1. Chapter 1: The Reapings

**Here it is! Chapter 1 of my first multi-chapter story that I will not give up on a couple chapters in!**

 **If you enjoy it, review it! If you see any flaws or mistakes, or anything I can improve on, let me know.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the _Hunger Games_ or _Percy Jackson and the Olympians. All rights to their respective owners_**

* * *

 **Interference**

 **Chapter 1: The Reapings**

Artemis was never good at not interfering. Not that the other gods were, but Artemis was especially known for interfering.

Of course, that's because her huntresses' actions, especially Thalia's, were often blamed on her. Many of the hunters still had the demigod brand of ADHD, so despite the wisdom immortality was supposed to give, many of the hunters were impulsive - especially when it came to young girls in danger.

And especially Thalia.

So, really, the gods should be glad it took 19 Hunger Games, a rogue pack of Hellhounds, and a sudden increase in security in District 6's security for Thalia (and hence Artemis) to finally interfere.

* * *

Thalia clenched her fists as she watch the female tribute walk to the stage. The poor girl looked like she was going to break down sobbing. She was about fifteen, highly petite and wouldn't have stood a chance in the games.

"Do we have any volunt-" the mayor couldn't even finish his sentence before Thalia was stepping up.

"I, Thalia Grace, volunteer as tribute," she declared loudly and confidently.

As Thalia bravely marched to the stage, the girl gave a thankful smile. Thalia could feel the mist warping the audiences minds - she wasn't from District 6, she had never even stepped foot into District 6 until that morning. Not to mention that her hunter's outfit no doubt looked strange compared to everyone else's vintage-looking fancy outfits.

Once on stage, Thalia made a point to glare directly into each noticeable camera. Let the other tributes be warned - she was not a force to be messed with.

* * *

Drara, Molly, Tina, Megan, Jae, and Lilac all squished into the small room.

"You know I get multiple visits, right?" Thalia questioned, raising her eyebrows at the hunters.

"We decided to go in three groups," Drara, the most experienced of the group, explained. "Not spread out too far."

"We're going to miss you horribly," Molly added. At eleven, she was the youngest of the group and second youngest of the hunters, and tended to be the most emotional.

"Yeah, and Artemis left you in charge," Lilac pointed out, crossing her arms. "You can't lead us from the arena."

"Drara's in charge," Thalia declared. "Until Artemis returns."

"Or you return," Jae added. "Given the rate of the Zeus's 'emergency' meeting, you might be sooner than Lady Artemis."

"You will return, right?" Molly asked.

"Of course," Thalia replied, ruffling Molly's blonde hair.

"Those mortals are hardly any match for Thalia," Tina added with a throaty laugh.

"You'll give those Game-makers a run for their money," Tina said.

"Oh, I will." Thalia agreed. "But I need you to do something for me." Carefully, she slipped off the bracelet that was Aegis in disguise and handed it Drara.

"Your shield," Drara gasped.

"You know you're allowed to have one token with you, right?" Megan questioned.

"I don't want the Capitol to get its dirty hands on it," Thalia explained. "Besides, I have something else I'd rather keep." She touched the circlet on her forehead - a symbol of her status in the hunters. Then she turned back to Drara. "You'll take care of that for me?"

"Of course," Drara replied. "And I'll lead well while you're away."

"Of course you will," Thalia agreed, grasping Drara's arm. "Now, it's time to go give the Game-makers a run for their money."

* * *

The other tribute - Spike Steele - looked rightfully scared of Thalia.

Thalia felt bad for the other tributes, even the boys, but she always liked inspiring fear. So when Spike shifted his chair away from Thalia when she sat down, she really didn't mind.

Spike had to be eighteen, or at least close to it. No doubt he had been celebrating his last year in the reapings, but now that was dashed. His black hair laid flat on his head. His bangs nearly touched the top of his hazel eyes, but the back of his hair didn't even reach his collar. Judging from his ironed clothes, new-looking shoes, straight posture, he was from a richer family, maybe a relative of the mayor.

District 6 had yet to produce a victor, so the only other person at the table was their escort. His name was Flavius, and he had an outfit to match the stupid name. His neon green hair stood up an entire foot above his head, as if he was about to be stroke by lightning. He wore a matching green jacket, a button-up shirt in a hideously bright shade of orange, and neon green pants. Orange jewels bedazzled the jacket and pants, and he had more eyeliner, foundation, and mascara on than Thalia had ever worn in her life. His top lip was green and his bottom lip was orange, and he had an orange ring in his nose that made him look like a bull. The whole outfit clashed worse than Zeus and Poseidon did.

"The reaping should be replaying soon," Flavius stated eagerly. He sounded like he had just breathed in a helium balloon. "So exciting to see who your competitors are."

Thalia ignored helium breath and kept digging in her dinner.

"I hope there's lots of drama," Flavius added when no one replied. Thalia took her face out of her food long enough to see if Spike was as unconvinced by Flavius as she was. Spike looked so mortified that Thalia nearly laughed. Obviously he had never met someone so eccentric as Flavius. Thalia, on the other hand, could name several immortals alone that were worse than Flavius, and maybe twice that in mortals.

Seriously, the idiots you met when you were immortal.

* * *

 **"A hero can go everywhere, challenge anyone, as long as he has the nerve." - Rick Riordan**


	2. Chapter 2:The Chariot Parade

**Writing Capitol people are fun.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own _Hunger Games_ or _Percy Jackson,_ or any character, setting, or theme in the stories. **

* * *

**Interference**

 **Chapter 2: The Chariot Parade**

The couch did not appreciate Thalia. And Thalia really didn't like the Capitol.

For the games, she was going against seven, maybe eight competent opponents. District 1, 2, and 4 - the career districts, as they were beginning to be called - all had tough looking warriors. The male tribute from seven looked formidable as well - about eighteen with a decent set of arm muscles. In ten, the female tribute also looked strong, and she barely looked shaken when her name was called. None of the other tributes looked like a threat.

Neither of the tributes in three were old enough to have much experience with electronics. Eleven's and Twelve's tributes were so starved they could have been taken down by a strong wind. But what really made Thalia angry was District 8's female tribute, Canvas Velvetier. She was couldn't be older than fourteen. She looked fit, but she had obvious hearing and problems and broke down in tears on stage.

The idea that anyone could send a girl like that to something as cruel as the games enraged Thalia. Now there were two fist-sized holes in the couch.

* * *

That night, Artemis came to Thalia in her dreams.

"My lady," Thalia greeted.

"Thalia," Artemis replied. "I'm afraid I don't have much time to talk, so I'll make this brief. I am proud of you for volunteering for that girl. However, you must be careful while in the arena. There is no privacy. Even now, you are being watched. That means you must do nothing out of the ordinary. No lightning, no sacrificing food, no talking about the gods, no cursing your father out, no anything. Do you understand?"

Thalia nodded.

"Good. And remember you need to win. As much as I don't wish to see those young girls die, the hunters need you to return. To lose you..."

"I know," Thalia replied, and, with a warm smile from Artemis, the dream changed.

The girl who had been reaped in District 6 was curled up on a small bed. Next to her sat Drara, the hunter Thalia had left in command. The hunter had the girl's hands in her, and was talking very quietly.

"You don't have to live like this anymore," Drara said. "Your name will go right back into the reaping next year, and again and again until you turn eighteen. But come with us and you'll never have to fear that again."

"And I could leave my brother?" The girl questioned.

"You'd live a boy-free life. Mostly, anyways. And you wouldn't have to worry about food anymore, or clothing. You'd be free to live your life as an adventure."

* * *

Over the years, Thalia had come to expect stupid things from stylists. But a wheel? Seriously?

It was thematically appropriate, District 6 making and controlling the transportation for Panem, but it was ridiculous. Her stylist, Claudia, had originally planned on making the dress gold - not surprising, since Claudia's hair, eyes, makeup, jacket, skirt, tights, and heels were all bright gold - but when she saw Thalia's circlet, Claudia changed the color to silver.

The dress started simple. The top was solid silver, made out of six different pieces of clothe that spiraled together. Below the waist, the dress started to spin out and the pieces became more spread out. The bottom of the dress, which was right below Thalia's knees, was a giant hoop. The hoop made the wheel and the six pieces of fabric made the spokes, and Thalia was that part in the middle - the axle?

Claudia also loved Thalia's spiked hair, so fortunately she made no move to have it tamed. However, she demanded layers upon layers of makeup, and soon Thalia's face was the heaviest part of the outfit.

The worst part of the outfit were the shoes - bright silver pumps. Thalia couldn't remember ever wearing heels in her life, and found them seriously impractical. Shoes should be made to walk in, not to make walking harder.

* * *

Claudia escorted Thalia out to where her chariot awaited, and Thalia wondered how she was supposed to fit in one with the hoop.

Spike stood awkwardly by the chariot, dressed similarly to Thalia, except in gold. Instead of a dress, the wheels were in his sleeves, neckline, pant legs. All five wheels were scaled back tremendously from the monstrosity that Thalia was wearing, but still made in the same manner.

"Lucia!" Claudia called, clasping her hands together. "Didn't you get my message about the color change!"

"No, I didn't," Lucia, who must've been Spike's stylist, replied. She looked over Thalia's dress. "You should've stuck to the original plan, Claudia."

Compared to Flavius and Claudia, Lucia looked normal. She had her jet black hair in a complex series of braids, decorated with red bits and pieces. Her only makeup was bright red lip gloss and red contacts. She wore a tight-fitting knee length black dress with a blood red shawl and what was either rose-pattern tights or tattoos. Her ruby red boots barely had any heels.

As Claudia quickly ushered Thalia onto her chariot, Lucia gave her a sympathetic smile.. The front of the chariot had been left opened, with only a bar on either side to hold up the rails, so Thalia's dress fit fine.

The very front of the chariot had headlights like a train, and the horses were connected by a rope that imitated old-fashioned railroad tracks. Spike stepped on next to Thalia, accidentally hitting her hoop. He looked pale, and Thalia hoped he wasn't going to faint on her. Or throw up on her.

The next few minutes felt like a millennia, but eventually the parade started. As each chariot rolled onto the track, the camera gave Thalia a good chance to mentally make fun of the other stylist. District 1's outfits were made completely out of jewels. Two's tributes had marble armor. The tributes from four were literally fish. Behind Thalia were two trees. District 8's stylist had made her tributes look like sewing needles, and District 12 brought up the rear with coal-miner outfits.

The upside to Thalia and Spike's ridiculous outfits was that they reflected light - Thalia's dress especially. It gave them more attention than the cows a couple more chariots behind them, but not enough to compare to the Capitol's usual favorites (including the fish).

In fact, the announcers barely gave them a word. Thalia didn't mind, though - tonight wouldn't matter much soon, and she doubted she needed any sponsors to win.

Three more millennia seemed to pass before Thalia finally stepped off the blasted chariot. When her head hit her pillow later that night, she happily dreamed of chariots being destroyed in many creative ways.

* * *

 **"Let us find the dam snack bar" - Zoe Nightshade, _The Titan's Curse_**


	3. Chapter 3: Training

**To Captain Turner, the guest that reviewed last chapter: Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far!**

 **I hope everyone enjoys this chapter - it was a lot of fun to write. Especially the scene with Flavius... I may have had a little too much fun with that character.**

 **As always, I'm open to any feedback. Even if you don't have anything specific, reviews are always welcome!**

 **Disclaimer: If it's someone else's, it's not mine.**

* * *

 **Interference**

 **Chapter 3: Training**

Thalia punched the dummy as hard as she could.

All around her, the other tributes were moving from station to station, but Thalia had stayed at the hand-to-hand combat station all morning. There really wasn't anything better to do. Archery was out, unless she wanted to announce to everyone what her preferred weapon was. She'd rather leave that to surprise. Same with the spear station. The station with knives was busy - knives were the most common weapon in the arena, so tributes tended to flock around there. Sword fighting was empty at the moment, but swords were never Thalia's favorite weapon, and she didn't want to make a fool of herself.

Thalia didn't even consider the non-combat stations. Most of that she had learned from her time with the hunters, and she didn't feel like staying still anyways. The agility station was really the only other option, but Thalia decided that she needed to hit something before she hit someone.

Even with the chaos all around her, Thalia could pick out individual tributes, what skills they were practicing, and whether they were any good at it or not. The boys from one and two were excellent swordsmen. The girl from one was an amazing knife-thrower, and the girl from two favored the spear. Both tributes from three were talented at traps.  
The male from four wasn't very agile, and his female counterpart liked the bow, but took her time while aiming. Five's and eleven's tributes were intelligent enough to focus on survival skills. Spike was surprising agile. District 7's female tribute had been stuck trying to light fires for a while now. The male from seven was as strong as he appeared, but not very coordinated. The two tributes from eight were both shy, and too nervous to participate much. Nine had produced a talented knife handler and a slightly less talented knife thrower. The girl from ten was wasting her time at the archery station while her male counterpart stumbled around with a sword.  
Twelve's two tributes were with Thalia at the hand-to-hand combat station, learning basic self defense. The girl from twelve had just landed her first solid punch when lunch arrived.

"Ha!" She exclaimed, pumping both fists in the air.

* * *

At lunch, Thalia attempted to sit alone. She hated solitude, but she didn't want other tributes thinking she was highly approachable either. Whenever someone would come close, Thalia would give them a glare and they would scamper off.

Except for the girl from nine. She just laughed and sat down. "I'm not going to bite," she said. "I promise." She gave Thalia a crazy grin and held out her hand. "I'm Quinoa."

"Thalia," Thalia replied, shaking Quinoa's hand. Quinoa appeared to be about fifteen years old - about Thalia's physical age. She had shoulder-length copper-colored hair and honey-colored eyes. She had a series of small braids pinned up on the right side of her head, and the hair on the left hung loose. Her stylist had chosen simple clothes for her - black on black, which brought out a beautiful, multi-colored chain choker - the type of jewelry not expected in the districts anymore. At the center of the choker was a small, red 9.

"So you're from District 6, right?" Quinoa asked. "Transportation?"

Thalia nodded. "And you're from nine. Grain."

"Mhmm," Quinoa replied. "Gets boring after a while."

"Anything's better than factory upon factory," Thalia answered. "At least your air must be fresher."

Quinoa raised an eyebrow. "I didn't think trains gave off smoke anymore."

"Trains, no," Thalia confirmed. "The factories that build them? Yes."

"I hadn't thought of that," Quinoa answered. "What do your parents do?"

"Oh, they, um, they're dead." Thalia looked down at her lap, hoping Quinoa couldn't read her face. Lying wasn't her strong suit, but she couldn't exactly say her father was a Greek god.

Quinoa blinked. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Thalia replied. "What do your parents do?"

"My mom owns a clothing shop," Quinoa answered. "My dad's on the city council."

Thalia frowned. "City council?"

Quinoa grinned. "Yeah, you know the thing that decides matters too small for the Capitol - like whether Old Man Buck or little Rye stole Mr. Barley's favorite coat. Those small matters."

Thalia blinked. "Right. You work with your mom then?"

"Mmhm. I usually do inventory," Quinoa answered. "I also do laundry on the weekends in return for small bits and pieces. I have a small collection in my room."

"Of what?"

"Anything odd I can find. Jewelry, mostly." Quinoa touched her choker. "Things like this."

"That is definitely odd," Thalia agreed.

Quinoa laughed. "I've never seen anything like it before. When Whicky found it buried beneath the dirt where they were plowing more field, he instantly knew to barter with me."

Thalia raised an eyebrow. "Barter for what?"

Quinoa's cheeks flushed. "A kiss, originally. Silly boy thinks he's going to end up with me some day. But I convinced him to settle for a free repair on his favorite pair of pants."

Thalia chuckled. "Boys can be ridiculous sometimes."

"Aren't they? Anyways, this is one of the strangest things I've ever seen before."

"It's not the strangest?"

"Look-wise, it is." Quinoa leaned forward. "But I found something else that's very peculiar. A small dagger, with some fancy symbols on the blade. It's, uh," Quinoa glanced nervously behind her shoulder. "It's what I trained myself on."

Thalia raised an eyebrow. "You trained yourself?"

"Mhmm. We're one of the smaller districts, population wise - not much bigger than twelve from what I've heard. There's not many names in our bowl every year, so I figured that my chances of being reaped were high, especially with the wacko way we do it. And I had one or two good friends train with me too."

"Well, it looks like it will be paying off."

"Hopefully. It would be nice to have a victor for once."

* * *

"Thalia," Flavius scolded. "Alliances are major part of the games. Without that bonding, the trust, the betrayal, it would never get as good of ratings. Obviously, Kweena knows this."

"First of all," Thalia snapped. "Its Quinoa, not Kweena. Second of all, I'm not trying to get you good ratings. I'm trying to survive. Third of all, you might want to move, because you look like you're about to be zapped by lightning."

Unfortunately for Thalia's eyes, Flavius's style hadn't changed much. Now he was clashing purple and a vomit-worthy shade of yellow instead of green and orange. He was posed in front of the TV with his arms crossed like some sick version of a teacher. On the couch, Thalia was doing her best acting the part of a troublemaking student.

"Now that's no attitude to have," Flavius replied, making him a lot closer to being zapped by lightning.

"You _are_ wearing rubber soles, right? I hear that protects from lightning." Lucia commented from the table.

Flavius flushed, then huffed and stormed out of the common area. Thalia laughed.

"He's right, you know," Lucia said. "It wouldn't hurt to have an ally."

"I know," Thalia replied. "I just hate being talked down to."

"I understand," Lucia comforted. "Flavius is annoying. I'll be surprised if we get through the games without me, Claudia, or one of the other escorts punching him in the face." "Surprised? I'll be disappointed."

Lucia laughed. "Personally I'm hoping Claudia steps on his foot with one of her spike heels. Have you ever been stepped on by one of those? They hurt."

"So I've heard."

Lucia yawned. "Anyways, I'm going to bed. See you in the morning."

* * *

 **"Oh, _scullion._ You're calling _me_ a scullion? What the heck is a scullion?" - Thalia Grace, _The Titan's Curse_**


	4. Chapter 4: The Scoring

**I reread this, and noticed a formatting error I don't know how I missed... or got there in the first place. It should be fixed now - sorry about that.**

 **If you like it, please review! If you don't like, review anyways! I'm always looking to improve.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not anything created by Rick Riordan, Suzanne Collins, or anyone else who is not me.**

* * *

 **Interference**

 **Chapter 4: The Scoring**

"Nervous?" Quinoa asked, watching Thalia's leg bounce up and down.

"Bored," Thalia replied.

The tributes had only been there for a couple of minutes - waiting to be judged - but for Thalia it was agony. Thankfully, they were doing it by district order, so District 6 would be going soon. Thalia didn't know what she would do if she was in District 11 or 12.

The girl from District 5 was called up. She was almost shaking as she left the room.

"Just one more after her and you're out of here" Quinoa reminded her. "Whereas I have to wait forever."

"Not forever," the girl from Twelve - Canary something or another - reminded her. "I should know, I'm last."

Thalia had never really talked to Canary, but sometime yesterday Quinoa and the other girl had started talking. Canary, despite being small, had the intelligence and skill of a daughter of Athena. With the typical District 12 gray eyes, Thalia couldn't help but wonder if she was.

Canary was about thirteen, and as thin as a needle. Her brown hair was stringy, even when pulled up in a bun, and her skin was a sickly pale. Still, she looked healthier than she did when she was reaped.

"I guess you've got a point," Quinoa admitted. "Which means Thalia has no right to complain."

"I can complain if I want to complain," Thalia replied. "That's what a mouth is for."

"Mhmm," Quinoa answered. Thalia shoved her.

* * *

"Thalia Grace," Thalia announced. The gamemaker in the front gave her a mindless wave.

Thalia immediately headed towards the paint. The targets for the archery range were too easy, so she had already decided to make her own. Grabbing the ugliest colors, the hunter headed to the wall. She exaggerated her movements as she painted a deer, outlining its body as well as its lungs, heart, and eyes. Then she added a couple of smaller targets above the deer, wiped her hands off on her shirt, and marched over to the bow.

The bow was unfamiliar, but one of the benefits of Artemis's blessing was "command over all bows", which basically meant that Thalia could use this bow just as well as she could her own.

Boom. The arrow hit its mark perfectly.

As she shot, Thalia used the rest of the training equipment to change her angle, her position, and her distance. She shot a couple from the agility course and anything else she could climb. Each one hit its mark.

When she was out of arrows, Thalia marched back over to the target, crossed out the deer's eye, and painted its tongue sticking out. Triumphantly, she turned back to the gamemakers and had to bite back a laugh at their faces. Her art skills seemed to horrify them.

And with that, she marched out.

* * *

"An NINE?" Thalia said. "The gave me an NINE? Did they even see what I did?"

"A nine is pretty good," Flavius replied.

"And no, they probably didn't," Lucia added.

"Hey, you still did better than me," Spike commented. "And most of the careers."

Thalia took a deep breath - Spike was right. She was still on the upper end. Not that she was going to tell him that.

"I think I deserve a ten," Thalia grumbled, crossing her arms.

None of the following tributes did any better. To Thalia's surprise, Quinoa only got a six - then again, she might not have wanted to draw a lot of attention to herself. Canvas from eight - the girl with hearing problems - scored a three, and Canary and her District partner both got fours.

Still, Thalia deserved at least a ten.

* * *

"If the interview's not until tomorrow, does that mean we get the day off?" Spike asked over breakfast the next day.

Flavius laughed. "Oh, no. You have to prepare for the interview."

"What do you mean, 'prepare'?" Thalia asked, crossing her arms. "I'm pretty sure I know how to answer questions."

"Thalia," Lucia replied. "The interview is much more than answering questions. Sponsors are going to be watching."

"This is your chance to show them who you are!" Claudia added.

"Right," Spike replied. "Isn't this one of those just be yourself moments?"

"Oh, not for someone like you!" Flavius replied. "You would come off as bland! No, no, no, you will have to put on a mask. Thankfully, I will be here to guide you."

Spike's eyes widened. "You?"

"Well, who else?" Flavius answered. "As you can see, I'm the master of not being bland!" He gestured at his outfit for that day - gold, silver, and bronze. Not bland was the only not rude way to put it.

"Well, what about Thalia?" Spike asked. Thalia kicked him under the table.

"Well, me and Lucia are going to handle her," Claudia answered. "After all, it's not like Flavius can teach her how to walk in heels."

"More heals?" Thalia groaned.

"Well of course!" Claudia replied. "With the look you'll be going for, height is a necessity!"

* * *

They did, in fact, spend most of the day teaching Thalia how to walk in heels without killing herself. It was nearly dinner time before she was allowed to take them off.

"What look are you even going for?" Thalia questioned as she massaged her feet.

"Tall and strong," Lucia replied.

"Like your hair," Claudia added.

"Right," Thalia answered. "So, aren't we supposed to discuss the interview now or something?"

"Are you nervous?" Claudia asked.

Thalia scoffed. "Of the interview? No. I just thought that was what you're supposed to be doing."

"Except you don't need much help as far as presentation goes," Lucia replied.

Thalia raised an eyebrow. "Not sure Flavius would agree."

"Well, he's an idiot," Claudia said. "So his opinion doesn't matter."

"You come across very strongly," Lucia explained. "In a manners class, that would be bad. But for the interview tomorrow? You'll be fine."

* * *

 **"That is mahogany!" - Effie Trinket, _The Hunger Games_**


	5. Chapter 5: The Interview

**This was definitely a fun chapter to write, and I hope you all enjoy reading it just as much!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable.**

* * *

 **Interference**

 **Chapter 5: The Interview**

Thalia was almost impressed with her outfit for the interviews.

Almost.

Her hair had been cut even spikier than before, and gelled to stand up straight. Her face, once again, felt heavy from he makeup, but the effect of the heavy eyeliner and silver lipstick almost made it worth it.

Claudia had designed a breastplate-looking silver tank top to go over a black shirt, and her thick, tight black pants had silver highlights where armor would be. Her boots almost came up to her knees, and the platforms and heels made her towering in terms of height. To top it off, she was wearing a giant silver jacket that broadened her shoulders and made her look very imposing.

"Oh you look scary," Claudia stated, clasping her hands together. "Ready?"

* * *

Thalia crossed her arms and slumped back in her chair. Spike sat next to her, so nervous it was almost contagious.

He was wearing a completely different outfit than she was. His outfit was skin-tight and bright gold, accenting muscles Thalia was fairly sure he didn't have. His lips were gold and he had gold eyeliner. Thalia wondered if Lucia knew he looked like an old-fashioned trophy.

The first four tributes - the careers from one and two - acted like a hyper Aphrodite. By the time the girl from three walked on stage, Thalia was only partially paying attention.

She wondered if the hunters were watching her now. Were they worried? Were they still in District 6, or had they gone back to the wilderness? Maybe they were in a district with less security - twelve, maybe - to watch the games.

It seemed like forever before the host, Primus, called Thalia up for her interview.

Primus was the only person in the room with more gold than Spike. He glistened brighter than the sun, and Thalia was surprised Apollo wasn't doing anything about it out of that you-can't-be-better-than-me mentally gods had.

His face looked like a doll from what must have been multiple plastic surgeries. He had a scruffy beard and floppy hair, both dyed gold with eye contacts to match. His lips had a metallic shine to them, and he had so much eyeliner and eyeshadow on that Thalia was surprised he could keep his eyes open. He wore a three-piece metallic gold suit with a tie that looked to be actual gold. His whole appearance hurt Thalia's eyes.

They shook hands, and Thalia took her seat. She wished she had something to put her feet on, but the two chairs were the only thing on stage. She crossed her legs and slumped down into the chair instead.

"So, Thalia," Primus started. "You've made quite the impression."

"I have a habit of doing that," Thalia replied.

"From the beginning, you've been an eye-catcher," Primus continued. "Tell us, why did you volunteer? What was running through your head?"

"I just figured that I had a better chance at winning than she did," Thalia replied.

Primus raised an eyebrow. "And do you think you have a good chance?"

Thalia shrugged. "Haven't met any threats yet."

The crowd went ooh.

"Really? None of the other tributes concern you?" Primus asked.

"You've seen the other tributes," Thalia replied. "What would I be concerned about?"

Primus chuckled. "A bold statement. But, then again, you scored a nine - higher than most of the other tributes. What earned such a high score?"

Thalia grinned. "Talent."

"Are you willing to share any specifics?" Primus asked.

Thalia quirked an eyebrow. "And ruin the surprise?"

"Well, I guess we wouldn't want that, would we?" Primus replied. "So, tell me, where did you get your token from?"

Touching her circlet, Thalia did some very fast thinking. "My older sister gave it to me."

"Oh," Primus answered. "And does it mean much to you?"

Thalia smiled. "More than I can describe. We're very close. She's just done so much for me."

"And how did she react to you volunteering for the games?" Primus replied.

"She was concerned," Thalia answered. "But more than that she was proud. She knows that she won't lose me."

Primus raised an eyebrow. "You seem very certain that you'll win."

"I know I will."

* * *

Three interviews later was Canvas. She was dress in an off-white, stiff dress - an artist's canvas, Thalia realized. The color brought out her tan skin, but otherwise the dress just wasn't pretty. Her chestnut hair was done up in braids with pieces of fabric woven in.

She stumbled in her high heels as she walked up the stage.

"So, Canvas," Primus started. "How are you liking the Capitol so far?"

"It's really big," Canvas answered timidly. "Very overwhelming."

"It can be that way at first," Primus answered. "But you'll come to love it."

"If I survive." And with that, Canvas broke down in tears and didn't stop crying until the end of the night.

* * *

Quinoa obviously had a very interesting - and talented - stylist. Her hair was done in spikes - not Thalia's don't-mess-with-me spikes, but more eccentric-looking spikes. Her dress was beautiful - a long, sleeveless gown made up of a swirl of the colors from her choker. She had a chain that mimicked the one on her choker going from her wrist to her shoulder, and another one on her opposite leg, going from ankle to knee. The crowd oohed her as she walked up the stage.

"So, Quinoa," Primus started, putting his hands on his knee.

"So, Primus," Quinoa answered, mimicking the same movement and facial expression. The crowd laughed.

Primus gave a small chuckle. "Tell me, where did you get that choker?"

Quinoa fidgeted with the 9 charm. "A friend found it out in the fields one day. Tried to barter it for a kiss." Quinoa paused as the crowd went ooh. "Eventually he settled for me fixing up a pair of his pants."

Primus raised an eyebrow. "You sew?"

"Mhmm," Quinoa replied. "It's a highly underrated skill."

"Really?" Primus questioned.

"I mean, look at what you can do with it." Quinoa gestured down to her dress. "I've got to say, the Capitol has really good fashion taste."

"Are you a fashionista?" Primus asked.

Quinoa nodded. "Or at least, I would love to be, if the clothes in my district weren't so drab. I absolutely love being here where there's so much color!"

Quinoa was lying through her teeth, and Thalia was impressed by how convincing she was.

Primus leaned forward. "You said that you denied your friend a kiss. Does that mean that there's someone else you like?"

Quinoa made a face. "Uh, no."

"That's a very strong no," Primus commented.

"Well, if you knew the boys back in nine, you'd know why," Quinoa explained. "No offense to Hales over there." Hale, Quinoa's District partner, looked to nervous to be offended.

* * *

"So, Canary," Primus started. Thalia just couldn't believe he could start out twenty-three interviews the same way. "Your stylist is obviously going for something here. What is it?"

"I'm a canary," Canary said, spinning around to show off her dress.

Thalia rolled her eyes. Duh.

The dress was absolutely gorgeous. It was knee-length, sleeveless, yellow, and completely made out of feathers. Two yellow pieces of fabric stretched between her shoulders and her wrists, giving the appearance of wings. The back of the dress was lower than the front, like a tail, and almost touched her yellow sandals. A couple of feathers stuck out of her bun, and her eyeshadow had an impressive wing.

"Are canaries special to District 12?" Primus asked.

Canary nodded. "Very special. They're used in the mines as a warning system. If there's poisonous gas, it will stop singing as an early warning."

"Very interesting," Primus replied. "So tell me, how are you enjoying your stay in the Capitol?"

"Oh, it's amazing," Canary answered. "My room in the tribute center has this window thing that allows me to see everything. It's just amazing."

Primus chuckled. "I'd have to agree. So, anyone cheering for you at home?"

Canary shook her head. "No one."

Primus raised an eyebrow. "No parents?"

"No," Canary replied, looking down at her hands. "They died in a plague when I was born."

"Oh, that's too bad," Primus said.

"Yeah, well, I like to think they're still watching me. And I plan on making them proud."

"And you will!"

* * *

 **"If we don't tell strange stories, then when something strange happens we won't believe it" - Ani, _The Goose Girl_**


	6. Chapter 6: The Night Before

**May the twentieth annual Hunger Games begin!**

 **Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine. Including this disclaimer.**

* * *

 **Interference**

 **Chapter 6: The Night Before**

Thalia dreamed she was in a board meeting.

Several game makers, escorts, and various other people involved in the games sat around a large table decorated with neon fake flowers. At one edge of the table sat Lucius Rich, the head game maker. Across from him was the current "president" Augustus Cirrus. Primus sat to his right.

President Cirrus looked to be in his mid-thirties. His wispy, curly brown hair wasn't dyed, but he wore contacts that blended his irises with the whites of his eyes. He was completely clean shaven, showing off the tattoos of the Panem symbol on each cheek, and his suit was bright white except for a lightning bolt shaped yellow tie.

He could be a god with the way he took his theme too seriously.

"What are you suggesting, Lucius?" President Cirrus asked, his words slurring a little. He leaned forward, chin in his hands, silly yet intimidating.

"Nothing much," Lucius Rich replied.

He had golden hair tied back and dotted with jewels. His black button-up shirt had buttons made out of rubies, and his cuffs were blood red. He had the top couple buttons undone, so everyone could see he dyed his chest hair jet black.

He smiled coldly. "Just that we rig the reapings a little this year."

"Do you honestly believe a little rigging will cure this... manifestation?" A women asked.

"A little rigging can cure a lot of things," Rich replied. The twinkle in his eyes made Thalia shudder.

 _Can you shudder in a dream?_

"How do we even know how to rig it?" One of the escorts - Janus, Thalia recognized, from District 10 - asked. "It's not like these, these..." he rolled his hand, searching for the word.

"Demigods," Rich provided.

Thalia's stomach dropped.

"These demigods are branded or anything," Janus finished.

Thalia shuddered at the thought - it sounded a little too much like something the Capitol would do.

The escort from District 1 - Severus? Septimus? - grinned. "We have our way. Trust me."

Janus looked like he wanted to do anything else but trust the other escort.

"Besides," the women who spoke earlier cut in. "We haven't decided to go this route. Your honor?"

All eyes turned to the president.

"I will have to think on this," President Cirrus answered. "For now, focus making a more interesting arena than the one from last year. I will not have another failure."

Thalia was shaken awake just as the president stood.

"What?" She groaned, swatting the hand away.

To her surprise, Quinoa and Canary stood over her.

Thalia blinked. "How did you get down here?"

"The elevator," Canary replied.

"We have a plan," Quinoa added.

"Well, I have a plan," Canary corrected. "And Quinoa agrees with me."

"What's that?" Thalia asked, sitting up.

"I was thinking we should try to meet up in the Arena," Canary answered. "I know we can't exactly play as a team, but we all have different set of skills and I think it would be advantageous to all of us."

"Alright," Thalia agreed. "But how do we meet up? We have no idea what's in the Arena."

"Just follow the tail end of the cornucopia," Canary answered. "Maybe grab a few things on the way."

Thalia nodded. "Fine. Just one thing - don't grab anything. Go the long way around. I'll grab supplies."

Canary and Quinoa exchanged looks.

"I don't know," Quinoa answered. "If something happens to you, we won't have any supplies..."

"Nothing's going to happen to me," Thalia stated.

"You're very confident," Canary noted with a frown. "Be careful. You never know what might happen."

Thalia smiled. "Just trust me. I know what I'm doing."

* * *

"Are you ready?" Claudia asked, adjusting Thalia's jacket.

The tribute outfit was fairly simple - a desert camo pair of pants, light tan t-shirt, a brown wind breaker, and a pair of hiking boots. The colors concerned Thalia - they obviously weren't meant for forests - but she still put on her most confident smile.

"Never wasn't," she answered.

"You've got this," Claudia told her. "And you know it."

Thalia did. But bodies didn't listen to reassurances, and her stomach still had butterflies in it. It The long wait wasn't helping either.

It felt like a century before Thalia was stepping in the glass tube that would take her up to the Arena.

"Good luck," Claudia said. "And may the odds be ever in your favor."

"I don't need odds," Thalia replied, giving Claudia one finally confident smile.

Claudia smiled. "I know you don't."

The glass rose around Thalia, and she suddenly felt claustrophobic. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to calm down.

Claudia smiled reassuringly.

And then Thalia was going upwards.

* * *

The entire Arena was brown.

The cornucopia was a fountain with the water coming from the tail end. It wasn't how actual cornucopia's worked, but Thalia didn't mind. It meant she, Quinoa, and Canary would be following a stream. Thalia was on the opposite side of the circle - meaning she could just run forward instead of having to turn.

The circle of tributes was flat. The other end of the circle, where the fountain pointed, tilted downwards. To Thalia's left, the ground was flat but littered with cracks. To her right was a series of boulders - good cover, but the dessert terrain made Thalia glad she was going downhill with the stream. The ground directly behind Thalia's heels was at a sharp incline - climbable, but enough to make it a difficult climb.

Several pieces of food were spread out near the tributes. A little ways more in were backpacks - camouflaged and not. Thalia mentally picked out three to grab during her sprint. A couple of knives littered the ground with the backpacks, but the real weapons were in the cornucopia. Including a bow.

Thirty seconds left.

Thalia studied the other tributes. All of the careers' stances indicated they would go for the cornucopia, as they always did. District 10's tributes, the male from seven, and Quinoa's district partner Hale also looked as they were going to take a run for the cornucopia. Everyone else looked prepared to turn and run away, or go at an angle and only pick up one or two things. Canary was the only tribute whose stance didn't give her intentions away, but Thalia knew where she was going.

Unless she was lying.

Thalia shook the thought out of her head. After the dream the night before - rigging the reapings to put more demigods in - she was positive Canary was a daughter, or at least a descendant, of Athena. Children of Athena were intelligent and Thalia knew better than to underestimate them, but they usually weren't liars.

Ten seconds left.

Thalia took a deep breath and forced herself not to take a runner's stance. She didn't need to advertise her intentions either.

Nine.

The male tribute from twelve unexpectedly changed his stance. He was going in to the bloodbath.

Idiot.

Eight.

Canvas looked like she was going to faint.

Seven.

Where were the Hunters now? Were they as nervous as Thalia was?

Six.

Why was she nervous in the first place? She was a Hunter. She had this.

Five.

Both tributes from eleven were eyeing the goods from the cornucopia.

The male from seven looked like he was getting cold feet about diving in.

Four.

This was actually happening.

Three.

Thalia readied herself to spring.

Two.

Deep breath.

One.

"Let the twentieth annual Hunger Games begin!"

* * *

 **"You can say what is**

 **Or fight for it" - Coldplay, "UpUp"**


	7. Chapter 7: The Bloodbath

**And we're finally in the games!**

 **Remember to follow, favorite, and review! Every little show of support counts!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, themes, or places in _Hunger Games_ or _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_**

* * *

 **Interference**

 **Chapter 7: The Bloodbath**

Thalia darted.

She grabbed the first backpack and used it to smack Hale, who had been reaching for it too. He stumbled back with a bleeding nose.

Throwing that backpack over her shoulders, she grabbed the next two and stomped on someone's foot. Handling three back packs was a little awkward, but Thalia didn't let it slow her down.

She picked up a knife and parried someone's sword. She slashed at him and, tucking the knife into her belt, kept running.

She grabbed two more knives and was almost at the bow before being tackled by the girl from District 4.

Thalia ducked and elbowed the girl as she went over her body. The other tribute landed in the ground next to Thalia with a thud.

Thalia grabbed the bow and quiver and added them to the stack on her back.

The girl from ten had just slaughtered the boy from three on the bank of the stream. She noticed Thalia instantly and started running to intercept her. Thalia drew her knife and ran right towards her. At the last moment, Thalia dodged to the side, avoiding the girl's knife. She slashed her own knife at the girl's stomach and the girl cried out. Thalia kept running, but she heard the girl hit the ground.

Thalia slid the knife back into her belt and grabbed her bow. She didn't want to waste an arrow on the bloodbath, but she needed something long range since she was running on flat ground.

Two sets of footprints marked the path ahead of her. Thalia tracked them down the hill, and was relieved when they curved with the river instead of continued straight.

The dry air parched Thalia's throat, but she kept running. She could get a drink when she stopped, as long as the river was mostly clean and she had someway of filtration in one of the backpacks.

The terrain wasn't completely barren. Grass and some small shrubs grew on the river bank. Small, fuzzy, tree-looking plants dotted the ground, reaching out with thorny branches and snagging Thalia's pants. A few prickly pear plants grew as well - giant oval-shaped cacti that could be eaten. A couple of palm trees provided shade, along with smaller trees here and there. There was also impressive, giant, multi-armed cacti, with multiple holes that hopefully were dug by birds. Most surprisingly, there were a couple of flower bushes. None of the plants were big enough or close enough to provide good cover, and the high amount of cacti made maneuvering hard and a little painful.

Eventually, Thalia found a small grove of short, weeping trees. The trees provided a small amount of shade, and Thalia was starting to get seriously dehydrated. That was going to be a problem in this arena. Resisting the urge to drink directly from the stream, Thalia sat down next to it and starting searching through one of the bags for filtration.

"Thalia!"

Thalia jumped right back onto her feet and drew her knife. Her body tensed for an attack, but a second later she realized she recognized that voice.

"Quinoa?" She asked.

Quinoa and Canary appeared from behind one of the larger trees - both uninjured except for a few fuzzy-cacti induced cuts. Canary had her windbreaker over her shoulder and the short sleeves of her t-shirt pulled up, so it looked like a tank-top. Quinoa had taken off her choker, and the end of the chain was hanging out of her pocket.

"That was quick," Canary commented.

"Water," Quinoa added. "Can you...?"

"I was just searching for something to test it or filter it," Thalia answered. "Would you mind helping?"

Quinoa and Canary both grabbed a bag and they began searching through.

They went through everything twice before Canary realized both canteens in each bag had a built-in filter, which was a little more convenient than the usual pack of iodine tributes received. Each pack also had about twenty yards of thick rope, a wad of bandages, rubbing alcohol, a pack of dried food, and a solar-charged flashlight with a strobe setting. One pack also had a carabiner clip - the loop-shaped clip rock climbers use - and another had a fire-starting kit. Thalia let Quinoa take the fire-starting kit and Canary claimed the carabiner immediately. Thalia also gave a knife to both of them.

"Food is going to be another problem," Canary commented, zipping her pack up. "I didn't see anything edible."

"The prickly pears are," Thalia replied.

Quinoa frowned. "The oval things?"

"Yeah, those things," Thalia answered. "We also should set traps up. This will be a popular shelter."

"If we're going to stay here we could start making a canopy," Canary added. "Provide a little shade."

"So are we staying here?" Quinoa asked.

Thalia shrugged. "I can't think of any place better to stay."

* * *

Thalia missed her hunter gear. It would have been so easy to just deploy one of her tents. Then she would have a fireplace, shade, food, air conditioning, and a pack of wolves to put on guard.

Instead she had to labor in the hot sun, placing traps in the trees while Canary fought with a bunch of palm tree fronds, trying to create a little more shade. Quinoa was out collecting prickly pears and stacking them next to the pond. She was drenched in sweat, and she and Thalia had both shed their wind breakers and Quinoa was using hers to wrap the spiky plants. Thalia's and Canary's were being put to use in the makeshift canopy.

Thalia was just finishing the knot of her last trap when a cannon went off. All three girls jumped three feet in the air.

Two shots.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six.

Seven.

Eight.

Nine.

They were quiet for a moment. Nine tributes already dead. Only fifteen still alive. Quinoa looked pale.

"That's almost half," Canary whispered.

"This is really happening, isn't it?" Quinoa asked.

Canary moved to comfort her, but her hand got caught in the knot she had been tying. "Ah!"

Her feet slipped off of the rock she had been standing on, and she flung wildly as Thalia went to help cut her down.

"Owwww," Canary complained when she finally landed, cradling her wrist next to her chest.

"Here, let me make a splint for you," Thalia said, taking Canary's wrist and kneeling down next to the stream.

Thalia fashioned a splint out of two sticks and a piece of bandage. Canary clenched her teeth but didn't complain.

"Maybe someone else should finish the canary for you," Thalia suggested. Quinoa, who had been fixing the knot Canary's hand was stuck in, burst out laughing.

"You mean the canopy?" Canary asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Thalia replied. "Why? What did I say?"

"The canary," Canary said.

And Thalia couldn't help but laugh as well.

* * *

Quinoa frowned. "I haven't seen any birds here."

The three girls were gathered around the stream, doing a final count of supplies. They had several prickly pears, and they hadn't dig in yet to their dried berries, but they lacked any source of protein, and Thalia knew they needed a meat source.

"Me neither," Thalia agreed, biting into the crunchy prickly pear. "But did you see the holes in the giant cactuses?" Both Quinoa and Canary shook her head. "Well, the big cactuses all have holes in them. I think birds are living in there."

"You sound like you know a lot about... whatever this is," Quinoa commented, gesturing to the general area.

Thalia hesitated. Ages ago, the hunters had been in the Sonoran desert - which was then called Arizona - chasing a pack of werewolves. Along the way, Artemis had pointed out various plants and animals, as she always did. Of course, Thalia couldn't say that.

"My family passed down hunting stories from ages ago," Thalia replied.

Neither girl looked convinced, but just as Canary was going to open her mouth, a cannon went off. Thalia put her finger to her lip and listened. No sound of a hovercraft. Hopefully that meant whatever it was was far away.

"That's ten today," Quinoa commented.

"I hope Herb is okay," Canary said. "I don't really know him, but..." She shook her head, lost in thought.

"I'm sure he's fine," Quinoa replied. She opened her mouth to say something else, but was cut off by the Panem anthem.

The seal was barely visible through the make-shift shelter. The dead for that day: the girl from one, both tributes from three, the girl from four, the girl from five, the boy from seven, Hale from nine, the girl from ten, and both tributes from eleven.

"Two careers," Canary commented. "That's rare."

Thalia wasn't really paying attention. The tributes she had fought were all dead. Part of her felt horrible about that, but she forced the feeling down. She needed to focus.

Quinoa looked close to tears, so Thalia distracted herself by putting her arm around her.

"I can't believe..." Quinoa said. "Hale... he's... he's dead."

"I know," Thalia replied. "But we have to stay focused. There's nothing we can do about that now."

"I know," Quinoa said. She wiped the tears out of her eyes.

"You should get some sleep," Canary offered, rubbing Quinoa's shoulder.

"Yeah," Thalia agreed. "I'll take first watch."

* * *

 **"It's important to know stories" - Shannon Hale, _The Goose Girl_**


	8. Chapter 8: The Second Day, Part 1

**I tried to get this chapter up two days ago, but my computer decided it didn't like the wifi it was on... I'm on my own wifi now, so it shouldn't be a problem.**

 **Disclaimer: If you've seen it before, it isn't mine**

* * *

 **Interference**

 **Chapter 8: The Second Day, Part 1**

Thalia hadn't realized it at first, but she soon found that the night guard had two jobs in the desert.

The first one was the obvious one: watching for other tributes. The night wasn't too cold - despite how cold natural desert nights are - so tributes could still be up and moving. Thalia was careful to stay by the shelter and stay hidden.

However, she soon found out that hunting was best at night as well. Even being careful about not wondering too far or breaking an arrow, Thalia produced a good amount of meat. She managed to hit two small owls and three larger ones, a four-pound scary looking lizard, a jackrabbit, about eight weird-looking pig things, and even a mule-looking deer. Thalia figured that other tributes wouldn't have such luck, but she was quiet and still had Artemis's blessing, which masked any human-y smell she might have.

She had every intention of waking Canary up for her shift, but she was enjoying the night too much to go to sleep. Even knowing the Arena was man-made didn't keep Thalia from enjoying the fresh air or starlit sky, and she was having fun hunting. It wasn't until the sun came up that she realized how long she had been awake for.

Reluctantly, she woke Canary up for her shift and made up a bed to sleep in.

* * *

Thalia dreamed she was back in Arizona with the hunters.

"Are you sure, Acacia?" Drara asked, crossing her arms.

"I'm sure this time," Acacia replied, standing up from the tracks she had been looking turned to look back at Artemis.

Acacia was one of the newer hunters (at that time), and was still timid around the goddess. Drara's heat-induced bad mood wasn't helping things either.

"Lead the way," Artemis said.

Acacia strode ahead, and the rest of the hunters followed. Thalia stayed in the back, next to Artemis.

"She's learning fast," Thalia commented.

Artemis nodded. "She'll be a great hunter. She just needs a little more confidence."

"Drara's not helping anything," Thalia said. "She's usually not like this."

"Drara just doesn't like the desert," Artemis replied. "She's always preferred forests."

"I don't know why," Thalia answered. "When the stars are so bright here."

Artemis smiled. "She thinks it's harder to survive out here. And she's right, of course. But it can still be done, if you just know where to look.

"For instance, you see those cacti over there?" Artemis pointed to the oval-shaped plant. "Those are Opuntia cacti, more commonly referred to as prickly pear. They're edible, as long as you take the spikes out. And those plants, with the long leaves? Those are a type of yucca. Most yucca's are edible once you boil them. Mortals used to use them for traps as well. And those purple flowers? They're bougainvillea. You can make a tea out of the petals. Apollo claims it helps a cough, not that that's something you'd have to worry about."

"What about those giant cacti?" Thalia pointed to a giant, multi-armed cactus near her.

"The saguaro?" Artemis replied. "They're only native to this part of America - the Sonoran desert, they call it now. Those holes you see are home to different species of birds."

"My lady!" one of the hunters, Molly, called from up front. "Thalia!"

* * *

The dream shifted.

Thalia was standing in the middle of a crowded lobby. Judging by the dress of everyone around her, she was somewhere in the Capitol.

The lobby was huge. The wall to Thalia's left was made completely out of glass. Doors opened and closed frequently as people came and left. To her right the room stretched on like an old train station. Thalia could barely make out a wall and a row of busy, embellished elevators. The tile floor was alternating between baby blue and pastel orange, and pastel colored couches and chairs were scattered throughout the room. The vaulted ceiling wasn't very high, but huge chandeliers swayed from the highest point.

The wall in front of Thalia was a baby blue wall with pastel orange curtains. Directly in front of her was a scoreboard-looking panel with each tribute's name listed. Ten names were faded out. Next to each name was a fraction - betting odds, maybe.

Behind Thalia, the wall was made completely out of television screens. Fourteen screens showed tributes. Ten were doing replays of the day before. A couple were replaying interviews, the reapings, and commentaries by Primus and his wife, Alexandria.

Several people lounged beneath the screens. Thalia recognized Flavius and Claudia, talking to an important-looking man next to a big 6 sign.

"I must say," Important-man said, "You've got a good couple this year. I'm impressed. But I'm not that impressed yet."

"You will be soon," Claudia replied.

"I hope I will be." And the man walked off. But just as he left, Lucia was leading a young couple up to Flavius.

"Flavius," Lucia said. "Phillipus and Aurelia here are interested in sponsoring."

"Great," Flavius said, clapping his hands. "How much are you willing to give?"

* * *

"Breakfast!" Quinoa called, waking Thalia.

Quinoa and Canary had obviously been working on their shelter while Thalia was asleep. Walls made of yucca, the leaf-looking cactus, completely surrounded them. A ceiling made of palm fronds shaded the area. Stacked in one part of the makeshift hut was the meat Thalia had gathered the night before. Next to that were several prickly pears, yucca leaves, and what looked like lemons.

"You've been busy," Thalia commented, standing up and brushing her clothes out. She had to crouch a little to keep from hitting the ceiling.

"So were you," Quinoa replied, gesturing to the pile of meat. "Want some?" She held out an already cooked piece of bird.

"Yes please," Thalia said, taking the meat and sitting down with the two girls. "Where did you find the lemons?"

"Quinoa found them," Canary answered. "Just a little farther back in the grove."

Thalia bumped Quinoa's knee. "Nice."

Quinoa shrugged. "It's nothing compared to what you and Canary managed during your shift."

"Anything else happen?" Thalia asked.

Quinoa and Canary shook their heads. That made Thalia nervous - if nothing had happened yet, then something was going to happen soon. As if the world could hear her thoughts, a bang echoed across the Arena.

"What was that?" Quinoa whispered.

Thalia pressed a finger to her lips and grabbed her bow. Nocking an arrow, she crept towards the source of the sound - next to the entrance of the hut. Canary and Quinoa both stood and drew their knives. Canary quietly stepped forward, but Thalia held her hand up.

For a moment, the only sound was from the stream.

The moment didn't last long.

The girl tribute from two jumped out and threw her spear, her District partner trailing behind her. Thalia dodged instinctively and shot her arrow. The shaft hit its target in the chest, and the girl stumbled backwards.

There was something weird about her arrow hitting it's target, and the target not turning to monster dust, but Thalia recovered quickly and nocked another arrow.

A canon fired and the tribute's district partner roared and launched himself at Thalia. Loosening her grip on her bow string, Thalia ducked and rolled, and the boy collided with a tree. As Thalia adjusted back her grip on her bow, Canary smacked his head against the tree and grabbed the sword in his hand.

Thalia waited for a count of five before putting her arrow back in the quiver and going over to the boy. She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him up.

"You," Thalia addressed him. "What's your name?"

"Stone," the boy replied. "Oak Stone." He rocked side to side, dazed. A little river of blood dropped from his nose and forehead.

"What were you doing here Stone?" Thalia demanded.

"I was... knocking out opponents." Stone wiped his nose on his shirt.

"Was it just the two of you?" Canary asked.

Stone wobbled. "Yeah... just me and... and River."

Thalia tightened her grip on his shirt. "You're not lying, are you?"

Stone shook his head. "No, not lying... Emerald and Trident went in the other direction. Up."

Thalia frowned. "Up?"

Stone nodded like a bobble-head. "Yeah... up the... the hill."

Thalia glared at him, trying to decide if he was lying. He didn't seem capable of thinking though, and no one attacked them, so she decided he was telling the truth.

"Fine." She snapped. "I believe you."

And then she hesitated. Stone was an enemy. A cruel one at that, if his district was anything to go by. But he was at their mercy, bleeding and helpless, and Thalia couldn't bring herself to just shoot him. She looked at Canary, who was watching the interrogation with wide eyes. Canary shook her head, and Thalia knew she couldn't do it.

"Now run," Thalia said, and dropped him back on the ground.

"What?" Stone asked, shakily standing up.

"Thalia..." Quinoa said.

"I'm not going to kill you while you're on your knees," Thalia said. "So run. NOW!"

Stone jumped up and raced out the door, nearly tripping over his district partner's body (which Thalia, being used to evaporated monsters, had totally forgotten about).

"Are you sure that's the best thing to do?" Quinoa asked.

Thalia and Canary both nodded.

"It's not like he's going to live long anyways," Canary said. "Besides, we got his sword." She attempted to flip the sword, but ended up dropping it instead.

Quinoa still looked unsure.

"It's done, whether it's the best thing or not," Thalia told her. She walked over to the body of career girl. "Right now, we need to move this body."

* * *

 **"Tremble before the power of the mighty Diet Coke" - Percy Jackson, _Mark of Athena_**


	9. Chapter 9: The Second Day, Part 2

**This marks about the half-way point. The total count for the story is 18 chapters, plus a short epilogue.**

 **Hope you're enjoying it so far, and remember to follow, favorite, and review!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own what is owned by other people.**

* * *

 **Interference**

 **Chapter 9: The Second Day, Part 2**

The second Thalia and Quinoa situated the body between them, they were attacked.

Thalia didn't respond as fast this time, since she had a dead body in one hand and bows usually need two hands. So, when another tribute body-rammed her, she ended up falling gracefully into the stream. Quinoa tripped but caught herself, and pulled her knife out of her belt. Thalia immediately rolled back onto her feet, and surveyed their new opponents.

To her surprise, she and Quinoa weren't surrounded by the other two careers. Instead, Herb (Canary's District partner), the girl from District 7, and the boy from eight stared them down. Each of them had a knife.

"That's a nice hut you have there," the boy from eight said, "It would really be a shame if someone took it from you."

"You do realize clever phrases never help you in a fight, right?" Thalia asked. She reached for her bow, but the boy raised his knife.

"I wouldn't do that," he said.

Thalia internally cursed, but forced it not to show on her face. "Right, it would be a waste of arrows. We can do this knife to knife if you want."

She drew her knife and flipped it, hoping to intimidate the three tributes away. Thalia didn't want another fight, and with a member of her team on the roof doing damage control, it could end up a lot closer than the fight with the two careers. Especially if she couldn't get to her bow.

"Do you really think you can beat us?" The boy asked, eyeing her knife.

"You do realize we're carrying a dead body, right?" Quinoa questioned. "Like, we've already killed one tribute, a career at that."

"And Maple here got her partner, didn't you?" The boy bragged.

Maple, the girl from seven, smiled uncertainly.

"Wow," Quinoa said. "That's amazing, killing an unarmed and injured boy. I'm so impressed. And trembling, too, at how tough that must have made you feel."

Maple shifted on her feet and Herb looked like he was trying not to laugh. Some part of Thalia wondered how a 14-year-old mortal seamstress was more intimidating than she was.

The boy just growled. "You should be trembling."

Thalia and Quinoa exchanged unimpressed looks.

"At what, exactly?" Thalia asked.

The boy scowled. "If your not scared of me, you should be scared of-"

"Rayon," Herb cut in. "She wants to remain a secret."

"Oh fine," the boy, Rayon, replied. "Not that there's any point. Dead men don't go around talking."

"Sometimes they do," Thalia said, just for the look of confusion on Rayon's face.

"Huh?" He asked.

And the two girls attacked.

Thalia slashed her knife across Rayon's face and kneed him in the stomach. He dropped his knife, and Thalia kicked it away from him. Rayon recovered quickly and punched at Thalia's jaw. Thalia blocked him, but ended up being cut in the arm by Maple, who had crept up on her way too easily.

Thalia stumbled back, biting back a couple nasty Greek curses.

She easily dodged the next attack, and tripped the girl's feet. Maple rolled as soon as she fell, but she rose unarmed. Thalia quickly found the knife and kicked it away as well.

Herb and Quinoa fought in the creek, and Herb was barely staying alive. Thalia turned back to Rayon, but he was knocked to the ground when Canary jumped on him from the roof of the hut. Rayon yelped as Canary brought her knife down. At the same moment Herb fell.

Two cannons fired.

Thalia glared at Maple, and the girl turned and ran.

"Today's been interesting," Thalia commented.

Canary put her hands on her knees, panting. Quinoa just stood over Herb, stunned.

"You... could... say... that..." Canary replied between breaths.

* * *

They ate in silence.

Quinoa hadn't said anything since the fight. She barely ate and sat in the corner, drumming her knife on her knee.

Canary paced the hut, occasionally fixing something. Once or twice she would glance at Quinoa, but she never said anything.

Thalia sat by the entrance, waiting for another attack. She was used to things coming in threes - as it usually did in mythology - but nothing happened. It made her anxious.

After she finished her meal of prickly pear, lemon, and pigeon, Thalia checked over the arrow she had shot at the girl from two. Thankfully, it wasn't damaged, and she still had a full quiver.

Canary walked to Thalia and knelt next to her. "Can I see that?"

Thalia shrugged and handed the arrow over. Canary looked it over, balancing it on her finger and spinning it between her hands.

She looked over the fletchings, nock, and tip as well.

"This shouldn't be hard to make," Canary decided.

"Have you ever made something like this?" Thalia asked. C

anary shook her head. "But people used to hand make stuff like this all the time, right?"

"It takes practice," Thalia stated.

Canary shrugged. "Well, nothing seems to be happening." She frowned in concentration and ran her finger over the shaft of the arrow. "Wood should work, but fletchings will be another problem. Would the feathers from the pigeons work? I'll have to experiment during my shift tonight." Canary looked up at Thalia. "Can I take first watch?"

Thalia shrugged. "Sure. Just wake me up before sunrise. I don't want to miss the night."

* * *

 **"You know, that would be... terribly frightening if we were in medieval Ireland, and I was a simple sod farmer. But we're not, and I'm not, so it's not." - Jenkins, _The Librarians i_**


	10. Chapter 10: Day Three

**Has anyone ever experienced a dust storm before? I haven't, but my mom has and it sounds scary...**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing I didn't in the previous chapter**

* * *

 **Interference**

 **Chapter 10: Day Three**

A cannon fired and Thalia jumped three feet in the air.

"Wonder who that was," Quinoa said, looking over shoulder at the hut's entrance. She was fixing part of the roof, which had torn thanks to couple of birds.

"I don't know," Thalia replied from where she was cooking lunch. "But if there's stuff going on out there, the gamemakers are less likely to bother us."

It was almost midday, and the fact that nothing had happened yet was making Thalia anxious.

The day was going just a little too good. Canary had, after staying up all last night, figured out how to make some spare arrows, though the wooden shafts didn't fly as well. Now she was sitting in the corner of the hut, surrounded by lemons and carving more arrows.

"Where do you want the chimney to be?" Quinoa asked Thalia.

"Over the fire," Thalia replied, taking off the piece of meat she was cooking and putting a piece of cactus on.

"The wind is sure picking up," Canary commented, spinning an arrow shaft between her fingers.

"Yeah," Thalia agreed. The wind was another thing that was bothering her - like a memory was tugging at the back of her mind.

Quinoa also frowned and looked over her shoulder. "Uh, Thalia? Have you looked outside recently?"

Thalia frowned, took the cacti she was cooking off of the fire, and walked towards the entrance. Far away, around where the cornucopia would be, was giant brown wall closing in on them. She stared, surprised for a moment, before her senses kicked in.

"We need to strengthen our walls," Thalia said, running over and snuffing out her fire with her foot. "Close all the holes, seal the entrance. Now!"

Canary stood up and peered out the entrance. Thalia watched as her eyes grew to the size of small moons. Quinoa was already working to finished up the ceiling, closing the small hole they used as a makeshift chimney. Thalia did her best to cover their supplies and pin them down.

"What on Earth is that?" Canary yelled, grabbing some yucci leaves from their nearby stack.

"Dust storm," Thalia replied. "A very large dust storm."

"Then why the panic?" Canary asked. "If it's just a little dust?"

"Did you _see_ that?" Quinoa questioned, finishing her work on the roof.

"It's not just dust," Thalia replied. "It's heavy wind, too. And, well, that's a lot of dust. Quinoa, can you refill the canteens and put them in our packs?"

"Sure," Quinoa replied.

Canary worked hard on sealing the entrance, every once in a while flinching when a thorn stabbed her hand. Thalia checked their supplies, doing her best to tie them down and sealed.

"How far away do you think that is?" Quinoa asked.

"I don't know," Thalia replied. "I don't care, just keeping moving."

"Uh, my stupid wrist," Canary complained, rubbing the wrist she injured earlier. "I can't do this!"

"I've got it," Quinoa said, running up and kneeling next to Canary.

Thalia could feel the lightning from the dust storm as it crept faster. She hoped Canary was right, that it was just a big, huge, towering wall of dust, but she had a feeling it was a lot more severe than that. Every sense in her body was telling her to run, but she doubted she could outrun a storm.

* * *

Quinoa and Canary just finished sealing the entrance and were backing up when the world turned to dust.

Thalia coughed and crouched closer to the ground, facing away from the storm so that most of it hit her back.

She tucked her head into her chest, trying to protect her face, but the dust still stung her eyes. The taste of sand filled her mouth. Thalia fought the impulse to spit it out, since more would just take its place. It was almost impossible to breathe, and there was no way to make it stop.

Thalia figured it lasted for three years, which, in conditions like that, translated to roughly ten minutes.

"Is it over?" Quinoa asked from behind Thalia.

"I think so," Thalia replied, opening her eyes.

"Then why is the world so brown?" Canary asked.

"Because we're in the dessert," Thalia replied, attempting - and failing - to wipe the sand off her face with sand-coated hands.

Remarkably, their small hut had stood through the sand storm, though it now leaned away from the cornucopia. The storm had left them a couple of windows, and opened the chimney Quinoa had just closed. Sand fell from the chimney in a waterfall (sandfall?), covering Thalia's little fire pit. In the window of sky shown through the chimney, Thalia couldn't help but notice the sky was still gray.

Then, she heard it.

It was faint, but it was very clear pitter-patter hitting the ground behind them.

"Is that... rain?" Thalia asked, standing up.

She jumped a few times to shake the dust off of her.

"Isn't rain good?" Canary asked, frowning. "This is a desert, right?"

"Canary, we're covered in sand. Do you know what happens to sand when it gets wet?" Quinoa asked, standing up and shaking the sand off of her like a wet dog. She held out a hand to Canary.

"It washes off?" Canary replied, taking Quinoa's hand and standing up.

"Nope," Thalia said. "It turns to mud."

* * *

"Good news," Quinoa said.

"Everything's camouflaged?" Canary asked.

The three of them were sitting around the river, which was now more of a muddy indent in the ground, going through their supplies. Or at least Quinoa was going through their supplies. Thalia was trying to scrape mud off of their food with a mud-covered knife, and Canary was playing with the mud in the river.

"Our water is only very faintly brown," Quinoa said, ignoring Canary. "The only problem is, the filters are pretty much bust."

"Great," Thalia replied. "Who's up for lunch?"

"You mean dinner?" Canary asked, gesturing to the hole in the ceiling, where the sun was shining from its six o'clock position.

Thalia blinked. Had they really been cleaning up mud for six hours?

"Whatever. Who's hungry?"

* * *

 **"There's something about the way**

 **The street looks when it's just rained" - Taylor Swift, "Fearless"**


	11. Chapter 11: A Turning Point

**This is a longer chapter, and a very important one. Writing some of these scenes was hard.**

 **Some of that was me creeping myself out. Don't worry, there's nothing gross or spooky - I just really hate scorpions. If there are five animals that scare me, they are scorpions, bees, scorpions, coconut crabs (look them up!), and scorpions.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything seen in _Hunger Games_ or _Percy Jackson and the Olympians._ If you've seen it before, it's probably not mine.**

* * *

 **Interference**

 **Chapter 11: A Turning Point**

"There's water in the river! There's water in the river!" was, surprisingly, not the weirdest sentence Thalia had woken up to.

"What?" Canary groaned from where she was cuddled up in the corner of the hut.

"There's water in the river!" Quinoa repeated, jumping up and down. "We can wash stuff off now!"

"Great," Canary grumbled, rolling over and curling up. "I'm so glad you woke me up to tell me that."

"What time is it anyway?" Thalia asked. "Shouldn't I be on my shift by now?"

"No, it's," Quinoa looked up at the sky through the chimney and hesitated.

"Quinoa, please tell me you know how to tell time from the sun and moon," Canary said.

"You are very grumpy at night," Thalia commented. But it didn't feel very nightly to Thalia's hunter instincts...

"Actually, its sunrise," Quinoa stated.

Thalia jerked up. "What! Quinoa, you were supposed to wake me up like two hours ago."

"Sorry," Quinoa said. "I was trying to make mud canteens."

"Mud canteens?" Thalia asked, pushing herself off the ground.

She was still caked in mud, and the mud pulled at her skin whenever she moved, but she was reluctant to wash it off because it made such good camouflage. For the same reason, Thalia had told Canary and Quinoa not to wash any of the mud off of the hut or surrounding trees, so they didn't look so much like an oasis.

"Yeah, to store water in," Quinoa said. "But it's not water tight, so it didn't work."

"Oh, well, good idea anyways," Thalia replied. "Who wants breakfast?"

* * *

"We should expect an attack today," Quinoa stated, munching into her prickly pear. "Since we didn't have one yesterday."

"Yeah," Thalia agreed. "Has anyone checked the traps since the sand storm yesterday?"

"I did," Canary said. "They're fine, I just needed to reset a couple."

Thalia nodded. "Good. But did we... did anyone hear that?"

Both Canary and Quinoa froze. Thalia closed her eyes and focused on the sound around her. It sounded like something big - not a human, but still a threat - was crawling towards the grove.

No, not something. Some _things_.

"Do. Not. Move." Thalia whispered.

She slowly pushed herself off of the ground into a crouching position. She grabbed her bow and nocked an arrow and waited... and waited... and

"Move!" She barked, shooting an arrow at massive bug-looking thing that came barreling into their hut. Canary and Quinoa dove in opposite directions, and Thalia rolled away at the last second.

What landed on their breakfast was about the size of a large, armored bear, but it was shaped more like a bug. It had two claws in the front the size of bobcat, and eight ant-like legs. A tail the size of it's body curled upward - like that stupid manticore the hunters had fought a couple times - and ended in a very large stinger. Thalia's arrow shot up from it's back between two giant armor-looking plates. A weak point, hopefully.

Canary cursed loudly.

"Scorpion," Thalia said. "A very large scorpion."

"I think this is a little past 'very large'," Quinoa said.

Thalia wondered for a moment why it wasn't monster-goo, before remembering that it was a mortal creature and didn't turn to dust upon dying.

The leaves rustled again, and Thalia knocked another arrow. Canary and Quinoa drew their knives. Two more scorpions appeared. Thalia shot both down just as another group arrived.

"How many of these are there?" Thalia complained.

"A lot," Canary answered.

Thalia cursed. She only had about eleven arrows left, counting the few Canary made. There were only five now, but if they kept coming...

Ten arrows left. Nine. Eight. Seven.

Canary was dodging one of the scorpion's attacks. Quinoa snuck up on it and jumped on its segmented tail. Holding her knife between her teeth, she climbed up the swishing tail to the stinger and started sawing it off.

Another pack of scorpions appeared. Eight this time. One too many for Thalia's quiver. Quinoa whooped as she dropped the stinger to the ground. As soon as it went thud, Canary jumped up on the Scorpion and hit him the side, where there was a gap in his exoskeleton.

Thalia took down seven of the eight new scorpions. Canary and Quinoa repeated their technique and took down the eighth.

"Please don't let there be more, please don't let there be more." Canary mumbled as she tugged at her knife, caught in the scorpion's shell.

Quinoa grinned as she dropped down from the tail. "That was fun."

Thalia laughed and patted her on the back. Canary looked at the two of them like they were crazy.

"Looks like we have some repair work to do," Thalia said. Their hut, and the grove itself, was pretty much gone. "Maybe we should move further down stream. Let's start packing up."

* * *

Quinoa packed while Thalia recovered a total of three undamaged arrows, and Canary fought with her knife, which was still stuck the giant bug.

"I miss our shade," Canary said, stumbling backwards as she lost her grip. She took a big gulp from her canteen.

"Me too," Thalia agreed, wiping her forehead. "Do you think there's anything we can get out of the scorpions?"

"Probably not," Quinoa replied. "They don't have much meat, and they're armor isn't very strong. If we had some way of using the poison, maybe..."

"Or getting this stupid knife out," Canary added. She yanked on it, using all of her body weight, but her grip slipped and she ended up in the stream. "Stupid wrist."

"Do you need help with that?" Thalia asked.

"No, I've got it." Canary said, standing up. "Did we recover most of the food?"

"Yeah, pretty much everything but the lemons was salvageable," Quinoa said. "Here's your stuff Thalia."

Quinoa tossed Thalia her canteen and back pack, and Thalia stuffed her three remaining arrows in the top of the pack and discarded the quiver.

"Are we ready to go?" Thalia asked.

"Not. Quite. Yet." Canary replied, tugging on her knife with every word.

* * *

"I miss our hut," Canary whined, wiping sweat off her forehead. She collapsed on a rock jutting out of the river bed and took a giant drink from her canteen.

"Stop whining to us and take it up with the scorpions that wrecked it," Thalia replied, sitting in the middle of the river. She usually hated getting wet, but the feeling of the almost cold water splashing against her knees felt great.

"I did," Canary replied. "You don't see them walking around, now do you?"

Quinoa laughed and sat down next to Canary. "I guess you have a point," she said, nudging the other girl with her shoulder.

"It almost dark," Thalia commented. "We should re-cover ourselves with mud and find someplace to hide."

"I don't see anyplace better than here," Quinoa replied with a shrug.

"Maybe over there?" Canary suggested, gesturing towards two green-barked trees about sixty yards away from the riverbank.

"Fine with me," Thalia said.

"That's a lot of fuzzy mini trees to wade through to get over there," Quinoa commented, referring to the cacti that looked, well, like small, fuzzy trees.

"You have to go through those to get anywhere in here," Canary commented. "Let's go."

"Fine," Quinoa relented. "But if we'll e so far from the river, let me refill your canteens."

"Thanks," Thalia said, handing Quinoa's hers. Canary did the same, and the two girls walked away.

"We need someplace good for building a fire," Thalia mused, ignoring the stabbing of the fuzzy trees.

"Over there, maybe?" Canary said, pointing in a very general direction.

"Where over there?" Thalia asked.

"Over there."

"Where?"

Canary sighed loudly. "About ten feet in front of that giant cactus."

"Oh, yeah, that will work."

Canary rolled her eyes. "

What?" Thalia asked.

"Never mind." Canary replied just as they reached the trees. Thalia was taller than both the trees, though not by much, but they still provided some shelter.

"Let's start collecting-" Thalia started, but was cut off by a scream.

"Quinoa," Canary said, eyes wide, but Thalia was already running towards the other girl.

A second later, Canary followed.

A cannon went off when Thalia was about halfway.

No.

No. No. No.

She reached the riverbed ten seconds before Canary did, which was long enough to process Maple, the female tribute from District 7, standing next to Quinoa, who was in the river. Thalia watched the water turned red as it touched her neck - a line slashed right where her choker used to be.

Thalia cursed Maple out like a sailor. She never drew her bow, at least that she noticed, but she felt her fingers slide off the string and watched her arrow plunge into Maple's chest.

Canary arrived just as the second cannon went off.

"She's," Canary said. "She's... Is-is she...? She-she can't be..."

"She's dead," Thalia replied, putting her hand on Canary's arm. "I'm sorry."

"No," Canary said, shaking her head. "Nononono. No."

She sunk to her knees with shaky breaths, and Thalia kneeled down next to her.

"No," she repeated. "No!" She pounded on the ground once, and immediately brought her injured wrist back to her chest. "Ow!"

Thalia rubbed her shoulder. "Canary, we need to go."

"I know, it's just..."

"I know, I know. Come on, stand up." Thalia gently pulled Canary onto her feet and draped one arm around her.

"Wait," Canary said. "One more thing."

She crouched back down and dug into Quinoa's pockets. A second later, she pulled out her token - the choker with the 9 on it.

Canary slipped the choker into her pocket and let Thalia lead her away.

* * *

 **"Here's it's safe and here it's warm**

 **Here the daisies guard you from all harm**

 **Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true**

 **Here is the place where I love you" - Suzanne Collins, _The Hunger Games_**


	12. Chapter 12: The Aftershock

**If you're liking it so far, remember to follow, favorite, and review! My old dance teacher once said that the more the audience clapped, the higher the dancers jumped. The same is true for writers! The more notifications I get in my email, and the more I know you all are enjoying this, the more motivated I am to post more!**

 **And if you don't like, tell me why! I'm always looking to improve.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything created by anybody else**

* * *

 **Interference**

 **Chapter 12: The Aftershock**

Thalia and Canary ate in stunned silence.

As she munched on the cacti, Thalia replayed the day in her mind. The giant scorpions, the destruction of their oasis, leaving Quinoa alone... there was a lot to think about. A lot to regret.

But mostly she thought about what to do next.

Canary was completely out of it. Thalia had to get her focused, or she would end up getting herself killed. Thalia knew that only one of them could survive, that she needed to get back to her hunters, but she couldn't lose Canary. She just couldn't.

They also needed a new shelter, or at least some way to block out the sun. The days were getting hotter, and the sun more intense. It would get even worse in the days to come.

"You should get some sleep," Thalia suggested, noticing the sunset in the distance. "I want to start finding a shelter before dawn tomorrow."

Canary nodded and curled up where she was, but Thalia doubted she would actually sleep.

Half-watching Canary, Thalia inspected the three arrows she had salvaged from the fight with the scorpions. The low number of arrows was going to be a problem, but Thalia had fought worse with less...

Thalia shook her head. If she had learned anything that day, it was not to get cocky. Sure, she'd survived worse, but she had watched so many immortals or semi-mortals fall because they got a little too confident. And, if her dreams were any sign, she was, for the most part, up against other demigods.

* * *

Thalia woke Canary up a little after midnight.

"We'll need shelter before sunrise," Thalia said, starting a fire to cook breakfast. Even with a grand total of three arrows, she had successfully hunted a good meal.

"Do you think they'll be more groves?" Canary questioned, kneeling down next to Thalia and adding to prickly pear leaves to the pile of meat. She looked better, more involved in what was happening, but her eyes were still puffy and red.

Thalia frowned. "I don't think so. They don't usually put two of those types of oasises in the Arena, do they?"

"No, not usually," Canary agreed. "And now that the number of tributes are shrinking, we should expect that they'll be pushing us closer to the cornucopia."

"Maybe we should start heading that way anyways," Thalia considered. "See who has control of it."

Canary nodded. "The feast should be coming up soon."

"Right," Thalia replied, as if she knew what Canary was talking about.

Feast? What feast? Since when was there a feast?

"There's only eight tributes left," Canary continued. "The feast usually happens when there's about five tributes left."

"Right," Thalia repeated, still clueless. "So as soon as we're done with breakfast, we'll search for shelter near the cornucopia."

* * *

"Careers," Canary whispered next to Thalia, as if Thalia couldn't tell that herself.

There were only three of them left - Stone from two, the girl from one, and the boy from four - and Thalia was tempted to knock them out with her three remaining arrows. She originally hadn't planned on going on the offense - it didn't feel fair - but it was getting close to the end, and after losing Quinoa...

But that ran the risk of damaging her last arrows, and she didn't want to do that. Besides, there were other ways to take down enemies...

"We could lead them into a trap," Thalia suggested. "Or we could stay on the defense and just find shelter close by, but then they'll probably try to hunt us down."

"I think I like the trap option better," Canary replied. "What did you have in mind?"

* * *

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Canary asked, shifting around anxiously next to Thalia. "What if they don't see the smoke?"

"It's the desert," Thalia replied. "Anything in the sky is visible."

The two girls were laying behind a thick prickly pear bush, watching their smoke signal burn about ten feet away from two desert willow trees. The hardest part of the plan had been finding someplace where they could hide the traps - the desert didn't have much cover. The smoke signal trap, according to Canary, was used in almost every game, but Thalia was confident the plan would work anyways.

At least she thought that right up to the part where the plan didn't work.

Stone, the tribute from District 2, was in the lead. Behind him was the girl from District 1 and the boy from District 4 - something Glam and Trident something, Thalia remembered. Both ridiculous names.

The girl, Glam, looked familiar. She had short, spiky hair like Thalia's, but bright red instead of black. She had one blue eye and one brown, and freckles across her upturned nose.

The familiarity made Thalia uneasy. She was sure she had never seen the girl before, which meant that either she had known her in a past life, or that Glam was a daughter of a Greek god. Or both, which was never good.

"Don't be such a wimp, Stone," Trident was saying as they appeared. "I'm sure we can take on two girls."

"I wouldn't get so confident," Glam replied. "If they've lasted this long..."

"Confidence has killed many tributes," Stone added.

Trident rolled his eyes and kept walking. "Besides, they let you go. They can't be that bad."

"Mercy isn't always a bad thing," Glan replied with a frown. "Besides, its further in the game. They might not be that merciful now."

Thalia gritted her teeth. Wisdom was always a good thing until enemies started to show it, and the last thing she needed was for Glam and Stone to talk some sense into their ally.

Glam did remind Thalia of one of the hunters, Phoebe, who had died during Orion's attacks during the Giant War, but Thalia didn't think that was where the familiar feeling came from. No, if anything she reminded Thalia of a man...

"Wimps are wimps," Trident replied. He put a hand on Stone's shoulder and shook the other boy. "You should know, as one yourself."

Thalia gritted her teeth. Despite the Poseidon-like name, Trident was definitely the descendant of Ares.

Glam, though, she couldn't place. Maybe it was the nose - it was very big. In fact, it might be the nose and not the hair or eyes...

Stone shook off Trident's hand and made to step - right into one of their traps.

As he was about to trigger the trap, it clicked.

Thalia cursed a moment before Glam yelled "Stop!"

Both boys froze.

"Something's wrong," Glam said.

Thalia cursed even more creatively. If she had been paying attention, she wouldn't have suggested the trap in the first place.

It was near impossible to trick a daughter of Hermes, trained or not.

Glam leaned down, picked up a rock, and threw it at one of the traps. It triggered and deployed.

Canary's breath hitched. "Run?"

Thalia nodded. "Run."

* * *

 **"Stupid people are dangerous" - Suzanne Collins, _The Hunger Games_**


	13. Chapter 13: The Career Battle

**I'm watching MythBusters as I edit this. Did you know that the sound rattlesnakes make in the movies is accurate, but the sound of a punch isn't? According to the show, what Hollywood uses as the sound of a punch contains sounds like walnuts crunching and the woosh of a pipe.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything I didn't own in Chapter 10. See that disclaimer for more info.**

* * *

 **Interference**

 **Chapter 13: The Career Battle**

Trident tried to chase after them by going forward, and got caught by one of the traps. If Thalia hadn't been at full sprint, she would have rolled her eyes.

She barely registered the cannon go off.

Glam grabbed Stone's wrist and led him around the traps. Her smartness kept them alive, but the extra yard or so gave Thalia and Canary a head start.

Thalia grabbed Canary's wrist and lead her into a wide U-turn, so they were headed back to the cornucopia. It was their best chance for cover.

But the second she started to turn, Glam realized what she was doing and ran to intersect them.

And she was fast.

Before Thalia knew it, Glam had body slammed them, and she and Canary were on the ground.

Thalia rolled towards Glam and kicked her feet from under her. She landed on top of Thalia, and Thalia kicked her in the stomach and sent her flying into a cactus.

Ouch.

Rolling onto her feet, Thalia grabbed her knife and checked over her shoulder for Canary. Stone had overpowered Canary easily - he was twice her size - but she stabbed him in the eye with her thumb, and he let go.

She seemed to be handling herself well enough.

Thalia ran over to where Glam was slowly pulling herself off of the cactus. Thorns stuck up all over her clothes, and she looked very unhappy.

Without stopping, Thalia kicked Glam in the stomach, and she fell right back into the cactus.

"Seriously?" Glam asked.

"Sorry," Thalia replied.

Glam kicked in her on the shin, hard enough to force Thalia to take a step back, and rolled out of the cactus gracefully - just to face plant in the dirt.

Thalia stepped to strike, but Glam used Thalia's earlier trick and tripped her. Thalia twisted herself to avoid falling into the cactus, but just ended up with a different cactus sticking her in the back.

Stupid desert.

Thalia pushed herself into a bridge position to get off the cactus and back-flipped upwards - superhero style. She landed and nearly backed into a large saguaro cactus, but caught herself just in time.

Stupid cacti.

Glam had gotten to her feet, but Thalia's gymnastics had put some distance between them. She growled, and Thalia tightened her grip on her knife.

Glam circled, giving Thalia a chance to adjust her position so the giant cactus wasn't right behind her. Thalia watched her opponent carefully, and she noticed the second Glam decided to attack.

Thalia readied herself for Glam's attack, leaning forward to brace for her momentum, but at the last moment Glam gracefully transitioned into a slid and knocked Thalia's legs from under her.

Thalia face planted - thankfully not into a cactus - as Glam positioned herself to strike.

Glam slammed her knife downwards just as Thalia rolled away, and the knife slammed into opened ground. Thalia took advantage of the opportunity and kicked Glam into the giant saguaro.

Thalia rolled to her feet and gave herself a moment to breath. Behind her, she heard Stone yelp in pain.

"Who designed this arena?" Glam growled, pushing herself off the ground.

"I know, right?" Thalia replied.

The dry air hurt her mouth as Thalia gasped for breath. Both tributes were covered in dry mud, sand, and cacti thorns. Glam was bleeding in several places - not hard, but enough for the red to show up - and Thalia was sure she was as well.

Stupid desert. Stupid cacti. Stupid arena and stupid games.

Thalia recovered first, and kicked at Glam, but Glam dodged and Thalia ended up hitting the cactus. Her boots were thick enough to protect her from the thorns, but it briefly knocked her off balance. Glam took the opportunity to kick Thalia's other leg out from under her, and Thalia went down at Glam's feet.

Thalia returned the favor, knocking Glam down onto her and kneeing her in the stomach before rolling over and pushing herself off the ground. Glam grabbed at Thalia's ankle, but Thalia stomped on Glam's fingers with her other foot. Thalia brought her elbow down, aiming for Glam's stomach. Glam rolled away at the last moment, but Thalia still hit her on the side and her knife brushed against Glam's stomach.

Her shirt quickly turning red, Glam tried to push herself up, but it was obvious the tribute had pushed her body as far as it could go. The cut in her stomach was the last straw, and she quickly collapsed.

Thalia didn't want to kill her, but there wasn't much choice. Even if it wasn't so far in the games, Glam didn't have many allies left. If Thalia left her here, injured and alone, she would die anyways - either from blood loss or dehydration. Killing her was the merciful option.

So Thalia closed her eyes and struck.

* * *

Thalia found Canary laying on the ground, breathing but with a bright red pool gathering around her head.

Stone laid collapsed next to a cactus, conscious but bruised badly. He watched her fearfully as she walked passed him, but Thalia ignored him. Canary needed her full attention.

Thalia carefully rolled Canary onto her side and checked her head wound. The wound was shallow, but she was losing a lot of blood.

Using her canteen, Thalia wet a piece of cloth from the scraps of her jacket, and cleaned the wound. She applied pressure to the wound as she carefully wrapped a bandage around Canary's head. Canary groaned as Thalia checked for other injuries.

Satisfied that nothing else required immediate attention, Thalia lifted Canary up and started to head for shelter. The cornucopia should be empty, and it had supplies, shade, and fresh water.

* * *

Thalia collapsed on the ground next to Canary.

She had done her best to tend to the girl's wounds, and she was satisfied that Canary would be fine. Now, she should go through the supplies still at the cornucopia, and then maybe set a few traps, but the heat was starting to get to her and she didn't want to leave the shade of the cornucopia. She should at least get a drink - she had to be seriously dehydrated - but her canteen was empty and she'd have to get up to refill it.

Against her better judgement, Thalia resigned herself to taking a short nap just as something thudded against the cornucopia. Her hunger instincts instantly - and finally - kicked in, and she grabbed her bow and went to investigate. The white parachute just hit the ground when Thalia saw it.

She rushed over, wondering what it could be. She desperately needed more arrows, but those were extremely expensive. She doubted there was anything else she was lacking, since there were many supplies still at the cornucopia.

Thalia picked up the white parachute, careful not to touch the hot metal of the cornucopia. Two hats hung limply off the string.

Hats? Why did she need hats?

Taking one off the string, Thalia inspected the gift. The hats were baseball-style - did that even still exist? - but were made out of a very light material. It would be enough to block the sun, but without adding much weight or heat.

Thalia grinned. Perfect.

* * *

 **"I'm so glad that worked. Those would have been horrible last words." - The Ninth Doctor, _Doctor Who_**


	14. Chapter 14: Before the Feast

**My internet is being annoying today. And so is my computer. But here is the next chapter anyways!**

 **Only a few more chapters to go! This chapter is somewhat shorter than normal, but next chapter will have lots of action.**

 **Remember to leave reviews on what you like, what you didn't, and what sound lasers would make if they came out of your mouth.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything own by other people. All rights to their respective owners. And lefts.**

* * *

 **Interference**

 **Chapter 14: Before the Feast**

"Attention tributes!" The voice boomed, causing Thalia to jump three feet in the air and nearly choke on her dinner. Canary giggled. "Starting tomorrow at sunrise, at the cornucopia, there will be a feast for the tributes of yummy meats, delicious fruits, and cold water. Prepare yourselves."

Thalia rolled her eyes at the dramatic ending, but the feast intrigued her. They didn't need any food, but the cold water sounded good. Not to drink - Artemis had broken her of that habit a long time ago - but to splash on her face and cool her off. She was getting sick of the heat, and the nights weren't cold enough to balance it, despite what real desert nights felt like.

But more importantly, she and Canary would have a chance to pick off some opponents. They owned the cornucopia now, and could set up traps for the other tributes. There was only five left - three cannons went off today, though Thalia had no idea who the third cannon had been. She and Canary could easily pick off three others with the chance to prepare.

"There'll only be two others coming," Canary said, startling Thalia again.

"What makes you think that?" Thalia questioned.

"Well, one of the tributes still alive is either the boy from two or the girl from eight," Canary explained. "One of them is injured, and the other hasn't shown her face."

"Who's the other tribute? The boy from ten?" Thalia asked. "He hasn't shown to be overly confident either. Or Spike - my district partner." She took a drink of water. "But we should still be prepared. We won't have a chance like this again."

Canary nodded. "Should we wait for after dark?"

"Maybe dusk," Thalia replied. "We don't know when someone will come to prepare for tomorrow."

"There's not much cover here," Canary stated. "We'd see them."

"Better safe than sorry," Thalia replied.

* * *

Thalia watched the display in the sky as the boy from ten appeared.

"Well, that answers that question," Thalia commented.

Canary nodded, trying to detach one of her bandages from the trap she was laying. She wasn't completely steady on her feet, and Thalia kept forcing her to drink, but Canary was too stubborn to leave all the work to Thalia.

"I wonder if Stone'll try to attack," Thalia continued. "As injured as he-" Something moved in the pile of rocks adjacent to the cornucopia.

Thalia held her hand up, gesturing for Canary to be silent, but Canary had been off balance from her game of tug of war. Her bandage snapped, and she flew backwards with a grunt.

"You okay?" Thalia asked, walking over to help her up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Canary said. "Did you hear someone?"

"Maybe," Thalia replied. "Let's call it a night. I'll take first watch."

* * *

Thalia dreamed she was in the big house at camp.

Chiron was stroking his beard, watching as Thalia attempted manipulating the mist for the first time.

"This is frustrating," Thalia stated.

"This is your first time trying," Chiron reassured her. "You shouldn't expect results."

"I know," Thalia replied. "But, still..."

"Patience is important when learning any new skill," Chiron said.

"I don't even understand how this works!" Thalia threw herself down into a chair and covered her face with her hands.

"The mist operates on what is expected," Chiron explained. Again. "Mortals see what they expect to see. So do demigods and immortals. The mist is most effective when used to present a better reality, or a more believable one, than the real one. Mist can even be used, by experts, to cover even natural occurrences. You just have to pander to what is expected, and what is wanted."

"That doesn't make any sense," Thalia replied.

"You'll understand soon," Chiron reassured her. "One day, you might even use it to save someone's life. But first, you must master the basics. Remember this lesson when you need it the most."

The dream faded, and she was standing on a hill in District 12. The second Hunger games played on a large screen in the area below. Artemis stood next to her, watching her reaction.

"They claim it's a free for all," Artemis said. "Do you believe them?"

Thalia shook her head. "Nothing on television is real. That's even truer now, after the rebellion. The game makers are influencing more than just the Arena."

"But can they control the victor?" Artemis questioned.

Thalia frowned, thinking. "Maybe not. But they can control who doesn't become the victor."

"But they can't interfere too much," Artemis countered. "Without getting bad reviews. They have to trust the tributes somewhat. The more these games go on, the more they'll try to control who is reaped. They'll start forming the victors before they reach the reaping."

"Do you think this will last long?" Thalia asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," Artemis answered. "But remember, the smallest acts of rebellion can send a government down. You saw that in the rebellion a couple years ago. But more than that, remember that the game makers know that too."

* * *

Canary woke Thalia up about an hour before sunrise.

Thalia double checked her remaining three arrows, made sure her bow was in good condition, and picked out a better knife out of the weapons left at the cornucopia. All of the supplies were secured in the cornucopia, giving Thalia and Canary very little room to stay in the shade, but they didn't want to lose any supplies to other tributes. Thalia collected a small breakfast of dried fruit and meat while Canary rechecked the traps. They both refilled their packs - three canteens, two packs of dried fruit, and two first aid kits. It was heavier now, but both of them agreed it was worth the weight. If they had to leave today, they'd be taking supplies with them.

And then, all they had left to do was wait.

* * *

 **"Be prepared" - Scar, _The Lion King_**


	15. Chapter 15: The Feast

**Wow. This was a chapter to write, and it's almost twice as long as the others.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything I didn't in Chapter 13. See the disclaimer in Chapter 13 for more info.**

* * *

 **Interference**

 **Chapter 15: The Feast**

The tables weren't even all the way above ground when they were attacked.

By Spike, of all the tributes.

Sword in hand, he attempted to rush them, but Thalia saw him running a good twenty yards out and drew her knife.

When Spike reached her, Thalia easily tripped him, and he hit the ground with a thud. Thalia reached to grab his sword (where did he get a sword from?), but he recovered too quickly and rolled out of her reach.

Spike stood up and sneered at Thalia, giving Canary time to sneak up on him and hit the back of his knees. He fell backwards - again - with his sword swinging wildly, forcing Canary to back up.

"Where did you come from?" Spike asked, glaring at Canary.

"I was right over there," Canary answered. "Didn't you see me?"

Spike swiped at her feet, but Canary anticipated the move and backed out of his range.

Thalia debated grabbing her bow and shooting him, but she didn't think he was worth the possibility of damaging an arrow. Something moved behind Thalia, and she turned to cover Canary's back. Whatever it was smelled weird, but she couldn't put a name to the smell.

Spike tried to push himself up, but Canary kicked him down. He slashed at her leg, creating a nasty gash, and she toppled backwards. Thalia turned just in time to catch her and steady her.

"Thanks," Canary muttered as she found her balance again. Blood was already staining her pants, and Thalia silently cursed. Canary didn't need more injuries.

Spike stood up and wiped the sweat off his forehead. Thalia noticed the massive sunburn on his face, and wondered if she had one as well. Did every tribute have one by now?

 _Focus_ , Thalia reminded herself.

"You don't know how much I need to win," Spike said.

"Yes we do," Thalia replied. "It's the same stakes for everyone. Win or die."

"But this isn't just for me," Spike answered.

"Let me guess," Canary responded. "You have a younger sister who you need to get back to. Or a girlfriend. Or a mother or father who needs your support. Has it occurred to you that the rest of us do too?"

"My district needs me," Spike replied. "They need a victor. I can't let a career win again."

"We're not careers," Thalia reminded him.

"My district doesn't have any victors either," Canary added. "And we're the poorest. We need it just as much as you do. But that's the point, isn't it? To turn the districts against each other? But the fact is that every district loses at least one tribute a year. And that's just wrong. But we're all too busy hoping that we'll be the one to bring home the victor, and not starve an extra month a year, to realize that this should be uniting us, not dividing us."

"I'm still going to have to kill you, you know?" Spike replied.

"We know," Canary answered.

"But don't act like you're doing it for your district," Thalia added. "You're not. You're doing it for yourself, and so are we. That's the way this works."

"No," Spike replied, his voice starting to sound angry. "I have a family. A district. And I will win for them."

He lunged and swung his sword, but Thalia easily countered with her knife. Spike was knocked off balance, and Thalia kicked him in the side to send him to the ground.

"You would be doing a lot better if you could stay on your feet," Thalia commented. Spike just glared.

Thalia leaned down to grab his sword, but he used his other hand to grab her arm and pull her down. He wasn't very strong, but he caught her in an off-balanced position, and she ended up on her face.

He swung his sword at her, and she rolled away. She pushed herself off the ground just to hit her head on one of the tables.

Thalia cursed. Loudly.

Spike tried to stand up, but Canary kicked him in the head and he collapsed again. Canary stumbled backwards a little as well, and Thalia couldn't help but notice how pale she was.

Successfully crawling out from under the table, Thalia reached for the sword just as Spike picked it up to swing. The blade hit her palm, and she immediately pulled her hand back to her body.

Ow.

Spike successfully gave Canary another gash in the leg, and she toppled back into the table. He pushed himself into a kneeling position just as Thalia stood up.

She brought her knife down the back of his head just as Canary slashed with her own knife across his face. The double attack was enough to stun Spike, and Thalia kicked him in the side again.

He face planted into the ground.

"Stop doing that!" Spike complained, spitting out a mouthful of sand.

"Let me think about it," Thalia replied, watching Spike push himself to his knees. "Nope." She kicked him in the back again - right where the wound from her knife was - and he face-planted again.

Spike must have learned his lesson, because instead of trying to stand up again, he kicked out and his heels slammed right into Thalia shins. With a curse, she jumped backwards, and hit the table behind her again.

Canary was leaning on a different table, barely keeping herself from falling. Her pant legs were almost completely red.

Thalia was vaguely aware of a fourth tribute crouching on the side of one of the far tables, jamming food into a bag. Thalia mentally applauded the brilliance of that before turning her focus back to Spike.

Spike was on his knees again, but Thalia didn't think kicking him would work again. He was far from being a good fighter, but he was learning quickly.

Instead, Thalia pushed herself up onto the table, not caring if she stepped on some food, and went around Spike. She jumped back on the ground when she was on the other side, so now they were face to face.

For the first time, Thalia could see the gash that Canary left. It was a decent gash, and she couldn't help but be impressed.

"Didn't like kicking me in the back?" Spike growled, standing up.

Thalia just smiled.

Spike lunged, but Thalia easily side-stepped. She elbowed him in the face, but he anticipated the move and stabbed at her open side at the same time. She only barely moved out of the way in time, and they both stumbled backwards.

Thalia, of course, stumbled into another table.

Spike charged and swung at her stomach, but Thalia used the table to push herself up out of the way. The blade skimmed her knee, just enough to hurt.

Thalia kicked her legs out as she let herself down again. Spike jumped out of her range, losing his balance briefly as he landed on a rock.

Thalia stabbed at him with her knife, creating a gash across his chest, and punched him in the throat. He collapsed, gasping for breath.

Spike recovered quickly. Thalia really wanted him to stop doing that.

Spike stabbed his sword upwards, forcing Thalia back towards the table and giving him time to stand up.

She cursed under her breath. Why was this taking so long?

He swung downwards, and Thalia caught his blade with her knife. The two blades collided at about eye level, and Spike leaned into the strike. He may not be a good swordsman, but he definitely had some muscle. Thalia was forced to use both hands, and she was strong herself.

Thalia managed to deflect the sword, and Spike lurched forwards. She stepped in towards him, using her knife hand to punch his stomach as she used a flat palm to hit his nose.

Spike landed on his side, one hand on his stomach and the other on his nose. Thalia finally managed to take his sword away from him.

"My district," Spike moaned.

"I'm from the same district as you, you idiot," Thalia replied. Spike blinked, and she watched as his eyes glazed over.

The mist? In the Arena?

"Right," Spike finally said.

He still tried to push himself up, but before he could get to his feet again, something exploded.

"What in Hades?" Thalia muttered, before remembering she wasn't supposed to say that.

Oops.

"The girl from eight," Spike said.

"Canvas?" Thalia asked. "With the hearing problems?"

"She doesn't have hearing problems," Spike replied. "She faked it."

Oh.

 _Oh._

"And now she's trying to blow us up," Thalia realized. "But how?"

The table farthest from the cornucopia exploded, and Thalia mentally cursed herself. She'd figure out how later. Now, she needed to get out of here.

Ignoring Spike, Thalia bolted over a table and grabbed Canary's arm. The other girl looked like death, but Thalia would deal with her wounds later. For now, they needed to run.

Thalia and Canary were blasted off their feet by an explosion, and Thalia had to practically pick Canary up off her feet to keep her running.

They were almost out of range of the explosions, but Canary's head bandage was lose and the wound had reopened. She was losing a lot of blood. Thalia readjusted her hold on her ally, grabbing her t-shirt on the other side of her body. Canary weakly linked her arm around Thalia shoulders, doing her best to walk, but Thalia could tell her energy was gone.

Part of Thalia recognized the sound of a cannon going off.

After what felt like forever, they were out of range of the cornucopia and into the rocky terrain next to it. Thalia helped Canary climb over a few large boulders before both girls collapsed.

Thalia immediately took a drink of water. Her throats felt even drier afterwards.

Canary collapsed against Thalia, panting from the run and covered in red. Thalia gently laid her down on the ground and checked her pulse. She was alive.

Thalia gave herself ten seconds to recover before checking her surroundings. They were behind a large boulder, with four or five piles of rocks around them. They were hidden and shaded.

Safe.

For now, at least.

Thalia took another drink out of her canteen before turning to check Canary's wounds. The head wound wasn't any worse than yesterday, but the leg gashes were deep. She had lost a lot of blood.

Thalia gently lifted Canary and took her pack from underneath her. Canary barely moved at the touch. She already looked so... dead.

Thalia froze. She had an idea.

She split her mind into two screens - one for reality, one for what the game makers were seeing. She checked Canary's pulse, and in screen one she felt the pulse. She imagined, for screen two, that she didn't.

She knew the gamemakers wanted Canary dead. She had just proven that she would make a dangerous victor. The Capitol couldn't have the districts uniting, not like Canary had just described. They wanted her dead. They expected her to die. And Thalia could give them what they wanted, without Canary actually dying.

A cannon went off.

Thalia collapsed next to Canary, doing her best to look emotional. She curled up in a ball and buried her head in her knees. With her breath so heavy, she hoped it looked like she was crying. Or at least trying not to.

She counted to twenty before forcing herself to move. Her body complained as she stood up and adjusted Canary's pack on top of her.

Thalia stood there for a moment, watching Canary's chest move, but watching it not in her mind.

And then she left, knowing that now Canary's life was in Artemis's hands.

* * *

 **"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if only one remembers to turn on the light" - Dumbledore, _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_**


	16. Chapter 16: After the Feast

**This chapter is a breather between the intensity of the last chapter and the upcoming last two chapters. It's the eye of the storm - the calmest part, right in the middle, only experienced after and before experiencing high winds.**

 **Also, I love the Sonoran desert. The views of Thalia are not the views of mine any more than her situation is mine.**

 **Disclaimer: If you've seen it before, it's not mine. All rights, lefts, backwards, forwards, ups, and downs belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

 **Interferenc** **e**

 **Chapter 16: After the Feast**

When Thalia collapsed under the shade of a boulder around noon, she had hoped for a dream about Canary's fate.

Hunters tended to have helpful dreams, even more so than demigods, after a hunt that involved a lamia, a pharaoh, a very confused praetor, a pack of hellhounds, and a grateful god of dreams.

But she didn't dream of Canary.

She dreamed of the Waystation, back when Jo and Em still ran it.

Jo was whistling as she worked, cleaning up her workshop. It was supposed to be Thalia's chore for the day, but Jo had decided she had been doing it wrong and taken the broom from her.

"For someone so picky about your workshop, you do good coming up with things on the fly," Thalia commented.

Jo smiled. "I learned. Of course, us demigods have a head start. I've known some daughters of Hephaestus that can make bombs out of dirt without any experience."

* * *

Thalia cursed the sun for the millionth time, slowing down to take a gulp of water.

She wasn't _sweaty_ , since the air was dry, but she definitely was _sweating_. Her throat felt like sand paper, and her nose was itching from her first sunburn in forever. She was miserable.

But her ears had picked up in a distance sound, and she was on the hunt for it. She splashed a little water from her canteen onto her face and pushed forwards.

The games was down to its last couple days. Only three tributes remained - Thalia, Stone, and Canvas.

Thalia didn't know whether to believe Canvas's hearing problems, but either way she was obviously an intelligent opponent. Thalia shouldn't underestimate her.

Stone was a also formidable opponent as well, but he was injured and hopefully unarmed. He wasn't much of a threat.

Thalia grunted as she forced herself over the boulder. Sunset was still an hour away, and even with the sun at an angle it baked everything in its rays. Climbing on top of things and into the sun wasn't fun.

Thalia landed on the other side of the boulder with a special brand of out-of-breath grace, and coughed when her landing kicked up a lot of sand. Thalia didn't know who the god of sand was, but she decided that she would give him a nice right hook to his face.

She allowed herself to relax as she hid in the shade of the boulder. As far as she knew, she was the only tribute in a wide radius, and even with the boulder hopping she would be hard to spot. Her body was still completely covered in dry mud from the dust storm a couple days ago. The hat covered her hair and circlet. Thalia would be surprised if anyone could see her.

The desert was quieter than a forest, and Thalia hunted the sound easily. A couple birds chirped now and again, and the wind created swirling towers of dust, but otherwise her hike was uneventful.

Thalia crawled over another boulder, and nearly jumped for joy when her boots hit water. Success.

The little pond wasn't much larger than a couple yards, but it was water and it was even protected. Boulders shielded pond from outside eyes, the only entrance over the giant rocks or through the small stream the trickled between two of the boulders.

Thalia refilled her canteens and dug out of her pack a dried dinner. She knew she should hunt, or at least lay traps, but she was exhausted from the day and decided it could wait for tomorrow. She fell asleep minutes after she ate her dinner.

* * *

She dreamed of Arizona.

Her and Acacia were racing down the desert, parallel to the highway, as the water levels rose. The rain was pouring down hard, making it hard to see, but Thalia grabbed Acacia's hand and dragged her through.

"Over there!" Thalia yelled, gesturing to a cluster of buildings off of the highway. They wouldn't be open this time at night, but if there was anyway to get the high ground...

In New York, the rain wouldn't have been a problem, but in dry Arizona it was a threat. The ground wasn't soaking anyone of the water in, and if it continued to rain, it could flood. Flash floods, Artemis had called them.

And they were dangerous.

Thalia and Acacia made it to the cluster of buildings. It looked like an outlet mall that had sprung up around an aquarium, and Thalia was happy to see stairs leading up to a second story of stores. Still dragging Acacia by the wrist, she ran up the stairs two at a time.

The two girls collapsed at the top of the stairs, soaked to the bone and out of breath. Thalia rolled over so she was on her back, stretching out her shoulders to breathe better. Acacia stayed where she collapsed, panting.

"Stupid. Desert." Acacia muttered. "First the dust storm and now this?"

"You're forgetting the 115 degree weather," Thalia added. "Not that it's warm now."

"The stars aren't even bright anymore now that we're in the city," Acacia noted.

"City? What city?" Thalia asked. "I didn't see no city when I was running through those whatcha-ma-call-it's."

Acacia propped herself up on her elbows and coughed. "Teddy bear cacti?"

"Yeah, those things. You know, I'm starting to understand why Drara doesn't like it here."

* * *

Thalia woke to the sound of someone landing in the pond.

* * *

 **"Cause I have sent for**

 **A warrior**

 **From on my knees**

 **Make me a Hercules**

 **I was meant to be**

 **A warrior please**

 **Make me a Hercules" - Sara Barielles, "Hercules"**


	17. Chapter 17: The Duel

**This is the second to last chapter. I can't believe we're almost at the end - it feels like just yesterday I was posting the first chapter. I hope you've enjoyed it so far.**

 **To the guest that reviewed last chapter:**

 **Thanks so much! This will be continued to the end, so stick around!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything that isn't owned by me.**

* * *

 **Interference**

 **Chapter 17: The Duel**

Thalia was on her feet, knife drawn, within seconds. Her bow was at her feet, but the look on the intruder's face made Thalia think twice about leaning down for it.

Her opponent looked different than she remember. Canvas had cut her hair off, so it hung raggedly around her chin. She was suntanned, but not burned, and her arms sported muscles that weren't there before. She was still smaller than Thalia, but stood just as straight.

Behind Canvas, the sun was high in the sky. Thalia had slept longer than she meant to.

Canvas didn't waste anytime talking. She lunged forward with a dagger, and Thalia parried with her own knife. Thalia kicked at Canvas's legs, but Canvas jumped out of the way.

"Where'd you learn how to fight?" Thalia asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," Canvas countered before lunging forward.

Thalia dodged the attack and positioned herself behind Canvas, forcing Canvas to turn immediately. Her back was to a boulder, trapping her.

Thalia struck towards Canvas's stomach, but she grabbed her arm and twisted it, forcing Thalia down into the water. Thalia kicked out, and her heel connected with Canvas's stomach. Canvas hit the boulder behind her with a thud, and let go of Thalia's arm.

Thalia stumbled as she recovered her balance. Canvas was a talented fighter, more talented than any tribute had a right to be. Even Glam - a career - hadn't been this good. Canvas had to be trained by experts - by other demigods.

That made her Roman, or of a different pantheon entirely. Greek demigods that made it to Camp Half-Blood usually never set foot into their districts again. The Greek demigods in the games, like Canary or Glam, had never made it to camp. Camp Jupiter, on the other hand, encouraged their legionnaires to go back home and protect their families. Thalia had never seen a trained demigod reaped before, but whatever protection they had must have ended when the reapings were rigged.

Thalia swung her knife, not waiting for Canvas to recover. Still out of breath, Canvas ducked under the blade and stabbed at Thalia. Thalia side-stepped the attack.

Canvas slammed her non-dominant arm into Thalia's side, and Thalia stumbled backwards. The water sloshed as she regained her balance, reminding her how parched she was. Sleeping for so long had dehydrated her.

Canvas stabbed, and Thalia grabbed her arm with her left hand and struck her elbow with her right hand. Canvas yelped, and Thalia pushed her forward into the water.

Grabbing her canteen from her soaking backpack, Thalia gulped down a much-needed drink of water while Canvas stood up, switching her dagger to her other hand.

Thalia cursed under her breath. If she was a child of Vulcan, as her dream the day before implied, she was likely to be ambidextrous. About half of Vulcan's kids were.

Canvas lunged and Thalia side-stepped and kicked at her side. Canvas anticipated the move and linked her arm around Thalia's foot. She slammed her bad elbow down on Thalia's knee, and something went SNAP.

Thalia cursed.

Canvas momentarily stumbled from the pain.

"Didn't think that one through," Canvas muttered, half to herself.

"Worked though," Thalia complained, trying to move her leg. Her knee screamed in pain, and she resigned herself to limping.

Canvas stayed in her spot, looking like she was about to fall over. Thalia gulped down some more water, willing the pain in her leg to go down.

Why did she always have to get leg injuries?

Canvas was the first to grit her teeth and attack. Thalia caught her dagger with her knife and easily pushed it away. She had superior arm strength, but now Canvas had more range. Thalia could hobble at most, and that didn't work well in the water.

Canvas struck again, and Thalia caught her knife. Canvas put all of her weight into the strike, and Thalia adjusted her grip so she had both hands holding her back. Then Thalia moved out of the way and Canvas fell forward.

The move would have worked perfectly if Thalia hadn't also fallen over.

Twisting at the last second to keep from injuring her wrist, Thalia slammed into the ground as Canvas face planted at her feet, just far enough out to be out of range.

Doing her best to ignore the pain in her leg, the merciless sun, and her sandpaper throat, Thalia pushed herself up to her feet - well, foot - and hobbled to where Canvas face planted. Canvas grabbed Thalia's injured leg by the ankle and yanked on it, causing Thalia to fall backwards. She kicked outwards, her heel colliding with Canvas's ear, before pulling her good leg back under her and standing up.

Canvas's head broke surface, and Thalia could hear her gasps. Cradling her injured arm close to her chest, Canvas scrambled to stand up. Thalia watched her, the pain in her leg keeping her from attacking.

When Canvas stood up, she didn't move to attack, either. Both girls just stood there, panting.

"I think I might actually have hearing problems now," Canvas commented between breaths.

"You definitely got my leg good," Thalia added. She was starting to feel dizzy, but didn't know if that was from the pain or dehydration or heat.

"This Arena is awful," Canvas commented.

"Agreed," Thalia replied.

Canvas rolled her eyes. "At least you have a hat."

Thalia smiled. "That does make things better."

"You know, we could've worked together," Canvas said. "I had allies. You could've joined us, not that it would've made any difference. You just came off as so unapproachable during training."

"I wouldn't have minded teaming up with you," Thalia admitted. "I wanted to, even, but I knew if I did I'd become attached. I wanted to do this alone, but I guess that didn't work anyways."

"You and the girl from nine, right?" Canvas asked.

Thalia nodded. "Yeah, her. And Canvas from twelve."

Canvas raised her eyebrows. "You mean Canary from twelve? Because I'm Canvas."

"Right, sorry," Thalia replied.

Canvas shook her head and scrunched her eyes shut. "Both of those deaths were my fault. I sent Maple, and the bombs..." "

The bombs were actually impressive," Thalia admitted. "What did you make them out of?"

"You're not mad?" Canvas asked.

"If I had the strength to be mad, we would still be fighting," Thalia replied.

Canvas's lips twitches into something like a smile. "True. I dug up a camera in one of those giant green plants and used that and one of those fire-starting kits."

"Impressive," Thalia commented.

"Thanks," Canvas replied. "Well, nice talking to you, but I'm afraid if we don't do something soon, the gamemakers will."

Thalia nodded and forced herself to stand straighter. Canvas adjusted the grip on her dagger.

Canvas lunged first, but Thalia pushed her arm away and whacked at Canvas's face with her elbow. Canvas ducked and kicked under Thalia guard, knocking the wind out of her. Thalia stumbled backwards.

Canvas stabbed with her knife, but Thalia blocked upwards and knocked the dagger out of her hand. Canvas elbowed Thalia in the stomach, and Thalia found herself on the ground again, now winded and with a bruised tail bone.

Thalia threw her weight to her side and kicked outwards and up with her leg. Her heel hit Canvas in the stomach. Canvas stumbled backwards, and Thalia pushed herself to her feet.

Canvas kicked at Thalia, and Thalia grabbed her leg and pulled it forwards. Canvas hit the ground with a splash, her head taking most of the impact. She didn't move again.

With gritted teeth, Thalia finished the job.

* * *

Thalia watched, half-asleep, as Canvas's picture appeared in the sky.

Only two tributes left in the game.

It had been hard, crawling out of that hole. She was exhausted, and she could only hope Stone felt the same, wherever he was.

Thalia forced herself to hunt that night, despite the lack of arrows, massive wind, exhaustion, and lack of life in the area. To her surprise, she found a goat wondering.

It took all her arrows, but she managed to hit him through the dizziness and drag him into a small cave-like area between two boulders. It may had cost her her last weapon, her knife still in the pond downstream, but she needed the protein. She kept the horns, hoping they would make up for the broken arrows and lost knife.

Thalia didn't save any food for the morning. Whatever happened tomorrow, she doubted she would have time to eat. Tomorrow, it would end - one way or another.

* * *

 **"From your knees you look up**

 **Realize you've had enough**

 **You get mad**

 **You get strong**

 **Wipe your hands**

 **Shake it off**

 **Then you stand" - Rascal Flatts, "Stand"**


	18. Chapter 18: The Final Battle

**Here it is - the final chapter in the games! There will be an epilogue, but the main part of the story is done. I hope you enjoyed, and if you did please let me know! This was so much fun to write, and now to be posting the final chapter?**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything I didn't in Chapter 15. Please see that disclaimer for more information**

* * *

 **Interference**

 **Chapter 18: The Final Battle**

Thalia woke to rain.

For the first time since becoming a hunter, Thalia woke groggily, wondering why the rain felt so weird. So wrong.

Then her survival instincts kicked in, and her mind screamed at her to find high ground.

The problem was, there was no high ground. It must've been the wind last night, even though it couldn't happen that quick naturally, because all of the boulders had been eroded to about a foot high. There was no shade, but with the clouds that wasn't a problem. The rain, on the other hand, was.

The desert ground didn't soak up water. And water traveled fast. Thalia had known water just a few feet high to cause disaster, and that was under natural circumstances.

In the Arena? This spelled disaster.

And the only high ground left would be the cornucopia. Grabbing nothing but a goat horn, Thalia darted across the desert. Her leg throbbed, the splint she had made only doing so much, but she forced herself forwards. Already, water was starting to pool around her ankles, tugging her towards the cornucopia. She had to throw off her hat because the rain was pushing it down in front of her eyes.

As scary as the sudden storm was, it exhilarated her. Rain beat against her face, washing away days' worth of dirt and sand. The water was cold, colder even than the nights had been. Her throat still felt dry, but it wasn't as parched anymore. The meat from last night gave her an added push, and she thanked herself for forcing herself to hunt.

Thalia couldn't see.

She couldn't hear.

She could barely breathe.

And she felt rejuvenated, and almost wanted to laugh.

She arrived at the cornucopia faster than she expected, and in the blindness from the rain ran face-first into it. She stumbled backwards, wondering if the cameras had picked that up. Could they see anything in this storm?

Thalia climbed the side of the cornucopia much easier than she had climbed the boulders yesterday. When she reached the top, she stood straighter than she had since the feast. She was a hunter, and this Arena was no match for her. The tired girl from yesterday was gone.

Lightning flashed behind her, and Thalia felt a bolt of energy go through her. Water might be Poseidon's element, but storms were Zeus's. And she personally may not have always liked storms, but she welcomed this one.

Figuring the rain water was clean - she had accidentally inhaled a good amount, and didn't feel any bad effects - Thalia cupped her hands and drunk the water. It was cold and so, so refreshing. Thalia didn't think she had drank anything so good in her life.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself."

Thalia turned to see Stone standing behind her, sword drawn and panting like a dog.

"Don't like the rain?" Thalia asked, raising her voice to yell over the storm. The flooding was causing all kinds of loose items - rocks, supplies, and the debris from Canvas's bombs - to hit the side of the cornucopia, causing this storm to be even louder than most.

"Not really," Stone replied. "But at least I'm armed."

"But you're tired," Thalia answered. "I'm not tired, but I don't have a real weapon either. We're both injured. Sounds like a fair fight."

"Are you really going to win a sword fight with a horn?" Stone asked.

"Don't have much choice," Thalia replied. She raised her arms like a bird. "If you think that gives you an advantage, go ahead and try me."

Stone charged, and Thalia caught his sword with her goat horn. She pushed his sword downwards and elbowed him in the nose. He stumbled backwards and slipped on the wet surface.

Stone caught himself before he could hit his head, and was on his feet in seconds. He slashed at Thalia, but Thalia grabbed his wrist and he dropped his sword.

"Looks like we're both unarmed now," Stone grumbled.

"Nope," Thalia answered, hitting him in the face with her horn.

She hit his eye, but it wasn't enough to stun him. Stone used his free arm to elbow Thalia in the face, and Thalia let go. Stumbling on the wet surface, Thalia almost lost her balance as she tried not to put weight on her injured leg. Stone clawed at his eye, backing out of her range.

Unable to step into range, Thalia slid herself towards Stone and latched her arms around his legs. She pulled her good leg in as she used her momentum to swing around Stone. Letting go, she kicked him behind the knees, and he toppled on top of her. Thalia wrapped her arms around Stone's chest and rolled over, so she was on top of him.

Forcing herself up onto her good knee, she grabbed the back of Stone's head and pounded it into the cornucopia, hoping to knock him out. Stone elbowed backwards, missing Thalia but forcing her to let go of her grip. He pushed himself off the ground and threw himself upwards, his head connecting with Thalia's stomach.

With Thalia winded, Stone crawled out from under her and stood. Thalia shifted her good leg under her and crouched. She regretted losing her horn in the slide, but she needed both hands free if she was going to keep this fight low to the ground - where her bad leg wouldn't be such a problem.

Stone kicked, and Thalia wrapped her arm around his ankle and yanked it forward and up. Stone lost his balance and hit the cornucopia with a thud.

Half rolling, half crawling, Thalia pushed herself to Stone just as he was starting to stand up. She elbowed him in the chest, catching him off guard, and he grabbed her elbow. Thalia straightened her arm and smacked her fist into his let go and grabbed his face, and Thalia kicked him off the cornucopia.

He landed in the water with a splash, and Thalia winced as she heard his body collide with metal.

A cannon fired.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the 20th annual Hunger Games!"

* * *

 **"Let the rain fall down**

 **Wake my dreams**

 **Let it wash away**

 **My sanity**

 **Cause I wanna feel the thunder**

 **I wanna scream**

 **Let the rain fall down**

 **Come and clean" - Hillary Duff, "Come Clean"**


	19. Epilogue

**If you are reading this, thank you! I enjoyed writing this so much, and I hope you loved every second of this as much as I did!**

 **Disclaimer: All rights, lefts, ups, downs, backwards, forwards, straights, curves, Easts, Wests, Souths, Norths, Northeasts, Northwests, Southeasts, Southwests, and soda cans to their respective owners.**

* * *

 **Interference**

 **Epilogue**

 _I'll be waiting._

Thalia looked out onto the lake. Lake Huron, it used to be called, but now it was just the lake. She knew this was where Artemis had said she'd be waiting, and Thalia could almost sense her presence out on the lake.

She squinted in the early morning mist, trying to find a shape that could be her, could be them. And she watched as a figure slowly came into view, and as the boat came onto shore.

"Thalia!"

Molly was the first off the boat, followed by Hunter and Drara, and before long she was surrounded by all her hunters. Thalia hugged each one as strongly as they hugged her, glad to be back.

"You did good in there."

Thalia pulled away from Lilac as Artemis walked off the ship, two new hunters trailing her.

"Thank you, my lady," Thalia replied, respectively bowing her head. "I've missed you."

"And we've missed you," Artemis replied.

She gave Thalia a hug, shorter but tighter than any of the hunters, and Thalia found herself hugging back just as tight.

Behind Artemis, Thalia recognized the girl she had volunteered for. She looked braver now, standing tall and proud. Beside her was Canary, grinning like a maniac, Quinoa's choker around her neck.

Artemis followed her gaze to the two girls. "You saved their lives, you know."

"I know," Thalia replied. She looked at Canary. "I'm glad you're alright."

"So am I," she replied.

She hugged Thalia, and Thalia could barely hear her whisper in her ear.

"Thank you."

* * *

 **"If you're lost out where the lights are blinding**

 **Caught in all the stars are hiding**

 **That's when something wild calls you home" - Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness/Lindsey Stirling, "Something Wild"**


End file.
